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MENTAL PORTRAITS; 



STUDIES OF CHARACTER. 



BY HENRY F. TUCKERMAN, 

AUTHOR OF "ARTIST LIFE," &C. 



" All my life long 
I have beheld with most respect the man 
Who knew himself, and knew the ways before him ; 
And from amongst them chose considerately, 
With a clear foresight —not a blindfold courage ; 
And, having chosen, with a stedfast mind, 
Pursued his purposes." 

TAYLOR. PHILIP VAN ARTENVELDE. 



LONDON : 

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 

1853. 









LONDON : 
Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. 



INTRODUCTION. 



It is the delight of naturalists to indicate how 
the same law asserts itself under widely different 
circumstances : they point to the leaves and stems 
visible in fossil remains, to the same botanical or- 
ganization in the pale flower buried under Alpine 
snows and the radiant calyx of the Tropics — to the 
identity of material in the cloud and the iceberg. 
A similar parallel may be drawn from the history of 
character ; its phases re-appear continually, modified 
by time and place, yet essentially one and the same. 
No class is represented by the philosophy of anti- 
quity ; no general or special development is stamped 
on any age, and no individual man has become 
memorable — but have their existent prototypes and 
representatives. Human nature has always been the 
same. The plays, the biographies, and in later times, 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

the novels and journals of every civilized nation illus- 
trate this more impressively even than history, which 
is too general to bring out, except occasionally, the 
refinement of this law. Character is as truly be- 
queathed as estates. Every favourite ideal personage 
is so thorough a fidelity to the reality as it always 
exists; Shakspeare's greatness consists in the fact 
that he has contributed more to the common stock 
than any other author. The more we see of the 
world, the more it becomes " a gallery of pictures ;" 
and it is an interesting study to compare features, 
trace lineages, and realize how a certain form of 
character is affected by circumstances as it is thus 
inevitably reproduced. Another desirable result of 
this study of character is, that from individual types 
we learn to recognize species, and gradually discri- 
minate the nice shades which mark each separate 
form of the same genus. Observation becomes thus 
habitually quick and accurate, and we never want 
subjects of entertainment or knowledge while mingling 
with our fellow-creatures. 

In the following Biographical Essays, written at con? 
siderable intervals of time, the attempt is made to sketch 
a varied group of characters, and bring into strong 
relief and contrast the different vocations and original 



INTRODUCTION. VU 

endowments of men as diverse in their circumstances 
as their genius. The nationality of the author is 
obvious, but in every instance he has attempted to 
follow the maxim of the great German critic, and 
judge each character by its own law. The success of 
a similar attempt,* when republished in this country, 
has encouraged him to offer a new series of Mental 
Portraits to the English public. 

* Thoughts on the Poets. 



LONDON, JULY, 1853. 



CONTENTS. 



The Man of Letters : Robert Southey 

The Pioneer : Daniel Boone 

The Landscape-Painter : John Constable 

The Financier : Jacques Lafitte . 

The Youthful Hero : Theodore Korner 

The Literary Adventurer : Richard Savage 

The Vocalist : Jenny Lind 

The Sceptical Genius : Giacomo Leopardi 

The Painter of Character : Sir David Wilkie 

The Reviewer : Lord Jeffrey 

The Civilian : Governeur Morris 

The Prose Poet : Nathaniel Hawthorne 

The Supernaturalist : Charles Brockden Brown 

The Literary Statesman : D'Azeglio . 

The Ornithologist : Audubon 

The Humorist : Washington Irving . 

The Popular Poet : Thomas Campbell 



PAGE 

1 

25 

51 

62 

80 

107 

125 

148 

176 

198 

225 

250 

271 

287 

311 

339 

362 



MENTAL PORTRAITS. 



THE MAN OF LETTERS: 
EOBEET SOUTHEY. 

The character of Southey, as revealed in his biography, 
is essentially that of a man of letters. Perhaps the 
annals of English literature furnish no more complete 
example of the kind, in the most absolute sense of the 
term. His taste for books was of the most general 
description ; he sought every species of knowledge ; 
and appears to have been equally contented to write 
history, reviews, poems, and letters. Indeed, for more 
than twenty years, his life at Keswick was systema- 
tically divided between these four departments of 
writing. 

No man having any pretension to genius ever suc- 
ceeded in reducing literature to so methodical and 
sustained a process. It went on with the punctuality 

a 



Z THE MAX OF LETTERS : 

and productiveness of a cotton mill or a nail factory ; 
exactly so much rhyming, collating, and proof reading, 
and so much of chronicle and correspondence in the 
twenty-four hours. We see Robert Southey, as he 
paints himself, seated at his desk, in an old black 
coat, long worsted pantaloons and gaiters in one, and 
a green shade ; and we feel the truth of his own 
declaration that this is his history. Occasionally, he 
goes down to the river side, behind the house, and 
throws stones until his arms ache, plays with the cat, 
or takes a mountain walk with the children. The 
event of his life is the publication of a book ; his most 
delightful hour that in which he sees the handsomely 
printed title-page that announces his long-meditated 
work ready, at last, to be ushered in elegant attire 
before the public ; his most pleasing excitement to 
read congratulatory letters from admiring friends, or 
an appreciative critique in a fresh number of the 
' Quarterly.' 

Minor pastimes he finds in devising literary castles 
in the air, projecting epics on suggestive and unused 
themes, giving, here and there, a finishing touch to 
sentence or couplet : possessing himself of a service- 
able but rare tome, transcribing a preface with all the 
conscious dignity of authorship, or a dedication with 
the complacent zeal of a gifted friend, from the triple, 
yet harmonious and systematic life of the country, the 
study, and the nursery, we see him, at long intervals 
depart for a visit to London to confabulate with 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 6 

literary lions, greet old college friends, make new 
bargains with publishers, and become a temporary 
diner-out; or he breaks away from domestic and 
literary employment in his retreat among the hills, for 
a rapid continental tour, during which not an incident, 
a natural fact, an historical reminiscence, a political 
conjecture, or a wayside phenomenon, is allowed to 
escape him. Though wearied to the last degree at 
nightfall, he notes his experience with care, as mate- 
rial for future use ; and hurries back with presents for 
the children and a voluminous diary, to resume his 
pencraft ; until the advent of summer visitors obliges 
him to exchange awhile the toils of authorship for 
the duties of hospitality. 

To these regularly succeeding occupations, may 
be added the privileges of distinction, the acquisi- 
tion of new and interesting friends, of testimonies of 
respect from institutions and private admirers ; and 
inevitable trials such as occasional assaults from the 
critics, or a birth or bereavement in the household. 
Sequestered and harmless we cannot but admit such a 
life to be, and, when chosen from native inclination, 
as desirable for the individual as can be imagined, in a 
world where the vicissitude and care of active life are 
so apt to interfere with comfort and peace. At the 
age of thirty-two, when thus settled at Keswick. 
Southey gratefully estimated its worth in this point of 
view : — " this is my life, which, if it be not a very 
merry one, is yet as happy as heart could wish." 



4 THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

Southey left a somewhat minute and very graphic 
sketch of his childhood, parts of which are written 
in his happiest vein. Some of the anecdotes are 
significant, but more as illustrations of character 
than genius. He was bookish, moral, domestic, in- 
quiring, and observant ; but seems not to have ex- 
hibited any of that delight in the sense of wonder 
that kept the boy Schiller rocking in a tree to watch 
the lightning, or the generous ardour that made Byron 
a schoolboy champion, or the oppressive sensibility that 
weighed down the spirit of young life in Alneri's 
breast. His autobiography, not less than his literary 
career, evinces the clever man of letters rather than 
the surpassing man of genius. It is characteristic of 
this that, between the ages of eight and twelve, he 
expressed the conviction that " it was the easiest 
thing in the world to write a play." Such is the 
natural language of talent ; that of genius would 
be, " it is the greatest thing in the world." 

The most effective portrait in that part of his memoirs 
written by himself, is that of his Aunt Tyler. It is 
evidently drawn from the life, and would answer for a 
character in the very best class of modern novels. As 
a revelation of himself, the most excellent traits are 
the disposition, spirit, and state of feeling displayed. 
Southey obviously possessed steady affections, self- 
respect, and a natural sense of duty. The embryo 
reformer is indicated by his essay against flogging in 
school ; and no better proof of his reliability can be 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 5 

imagined than the fact that several of his earliest 
friendships continued unabated throughout life. His 
sketches of teachers, classmates, and the scenes of 
boyhood are pleasing, natural, and authentic. 

Like most literary men, Southey in youth took an 
interest in science, dabbled in botany and entomology; 
but soon abandoned insects and flowers, except for 
purposes of metaphor. His education, too, like that 
of the majority of professed authors, was irregular, 
versatile, and unexact, vibrating between the study of 
text-books in a formal, and the perusal of chosen ones 
in a relishing manner. His love of the quaint in 
expression, his taste for natural history, church lore, 
ballads, historic incident, and curious philosophy, are 
richly exemplified in the specimens of the ' Common- 
place Book,' recently published, and especially in that 
fragmentary, but most suggestive work, " The Doctor ;" 
and these but carry out the aims and tastes fore- 
shadowed in his youthful studies. 

Marked out by natural tastes for a life of books, 
we recognise the instinct in the delight he experi- 
enced when first possessed of a set of Newberry's 
juvenile publications, the zest with which he wrote 
school themes, invented little dramas, and frater- 
nized with a village editor, not less than in its mature 
development, when taking the shape of beautiful 
quartos with the imprimatur of Murray or Long- 
mans. The sight of a fair finished page of his first 
elaborate metrical composition, "Joan of Arc," he 
acknowledges infected him with the true author mania, 



b THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

and henceforth he was only happy over pencraft or 
typography. 

In these memoirs, we find new evidence of the 
laws of mind and health, and the fatal consequences 
of their infringement. To Southey's kind activity 
we are indebted for a knowledge of the most affect- 
ing instance in English literature of early genius 
prematurely lost, that of Kirke White; and two 
other cases of youthful aspiration for literary honour 
blighted by death, were confided to his benevolent 
sympathy; but the great intellectual promise, rapid 
development, and untimely loss of his son, is one of 
the most pathetic episodes of his life. His corre- 
spondence at the period explains the apparent in- 
congruity between occasional evidences of strong 
feeling and an habitual calmness of tone. His na- 
ture was so balanced as to admit, as a general rule, 
of perfect self-control. He repeatedly asserts that 
the coldness attributed to him is not real. In this 
great bereavement, he seems to have perfectly ex- 
ercised the power of living in his mind, and finding a 
refuge from moral suffering in mental activity. But 
one of the most impressive physiological, as well as 
intellectual lessons to be drawn from Southey's life, is 
in his own personal experience. 

"We have a striking example of the need of a legiti- 
mate hygiene for the assiduous writer, and the fatal 
consequence of its neglect. To his scholar's tempera- 
ment and habits may be, in a measure, ascribed 
Southey's conservatism; and it is equally obvious 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 7 

how the same causes gradually modified his physical 
constitution, and, through this, his character of mind. 
We believe it is now admitted that, where the tem- 
perament is not indicated with great predominance, 
it may be almost entirely changed by diversity of cir- 
cumstances and habits. The influence of the brain 
and nervous system is so pervading that, where the 
vocation constantly stimulates them and leaves the 
muscles and circulation, in a great degree, inactive, 
remarkable modifications occur in the animal economy; 
and so intimately are its functions associated with 
mental and moral phenomena, that it is quite unphilo- 
sophical to attempt to estimate or even analyze 
character without taking its agency into view. The 
sedentary life and cerebral activity of Southey seem to 
have very soon subdued his feelings. We perceive, in 
the tone of his letters, a slow but certain diminution 
of animal spirits ; and, now and then, a prophetic con- 
sciousness of the frail tenure upon which he held, not 
his intelligent spirit, but his mental machinery — the 
incessant action of which is adequate to explain its 
melancholy and premature decay. The time will come 
when his case will be recorded as illustrative of the 
laws of body and mind in their mutual relations — a 
subject which Combe, Madden, and other popular 
writers have shown to be fraught with teachings of 
the wisest charity for what are called " the infirmities 
of genius." 

How many pathetic chapters are yet to be written 
on this prolific theme, before the world is sufficiently 



8 THE MAX OF LETTERS : 

enlightened to know how to treat her gifted children ! 
We need not go to Tasso's cell to awaken our sympa- 
thies in this regard ; from the fierce insanity of Swift 
and Collins to the morbid irritability or gloom of 
Johnson, Pope, and Byron, and the imbecile age of 
3Ioore and Southey, the history of English authorship 
is replete with solemn warnings to use even the 
noblest endowments of humanity with meek and 
severe circumspection. God is not less worshipped 
by select intelligences, through fidelity to the natural 
laws, than by celebrating his glory in the triumphs of 
art. 

In a letter to Sharon Turner, in 1817, Southey 
remarks, " My spirits rather than my disposition have 
undergone a great change. They used to be exuberant 
beyond those of every other person ; my heart seemed 
to possess a perpetual fountain of hilarity ; no circum- 
stances of study, or atmosphere, or solitude affected 
it ; and the ordinary vexations and cares of life, even 
when they showered upon me, fell off like hail from a 
pent-house. That spring is dried up. I cannot now 
preserve an appearance of it at all without an effort, 
and no prospect in this world delights me except that 
of the next." Although he often attributed this 
change to special causes, and particularly to the 
bereavement which bore so heavily on his heart, he 
was, at the same time, soon aware that the recupera- 
tive energies of his nature were essentially impaired. 
"It is," he writes to another friend, "between our- 
selves, a matter of surprise that this bodily machine of 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 9 

mine should have continued its operations with so few 
derangements, knowing, as I do, its excessive suscep- 
tibility to many deranging causes." These shadows 
deepened as time passed on, and found him intent 
upon mental labour, when nature imperatively de- 
manded freedom, variety, the comedy of life, and the 
atmosphere of a serene, cheerful, and unhackneyed 
existence. 

There was nothing, however, in the native hue 
of Southey's mind that betokened any tendency to 
disease. On the contrary, his tone of feeling was 
singularly moderate, his estimate of life rather phi- 
losophic than visionary, and, for a poet, he scarcely 
has been equalled for practical wisdom and method- 
ical self-government. Instead of wishing newly - 
married people happiness, which he considered super- 
fluous, he wished them patience ; in travelling, he was 
remarkable for making the best of everything ; he 
cherished a tranquil religious faith ; he systematized 
his life, and, instead of lamenting the dreams of 
youth as the only source of real enjoyment in life, he 
says, " Our happiness, as we grow older, is more in 
quantity and higher in degree as well as kind." 

Another wholesome quality he largely possessed 
was candour. He bore with exemplary patience, as a 
general rule, the malevolence of criticism, suffered 
with few murmurs the indignity of Giftbrd's mutila- 
tions of his reviews, and seemed to exhibit acrimony 
only when assailed by a radical, or when he alluded to 
Bonaparte, whose most appropriate situation, through 



10 THE MAX OF LETTERS : 

his whole career, he declared to have been when sleep- 
ing beside a fire made of human bone in the desert. 
He had the magnanimity at once to confess the 
genuine success of the American navy, at a time when it 
was common in England to doubt even the testimony 
of facts on the subject. " It is in vain," he writes, 
" to treat the matter lightly, or seek to conceal from 
ourselves the extent of the evil. Our naval superiority 
is destroyed." Of the American literature, at an earlier 
period, he declared, with more truth than now could 
be warranted, that " the Americans, since the Revolu- 
tion, had not produced a single poet, who has been 
heard of on this side of the Atlantic." Subsequently, 
he was, however, the first to do justice to the poetical 
merits of Maria del Occidente, and numbered several 
congenial literary friends among her countrymen. A 
more versatile course might have contributed greatly 
to Southey's sustained vigour of mind. His early life 
was, indeed, sufficiently marked by vicissitude ; he was 
successively a law-student, lecturer, private secretary, 
traveller, and author, and thought of becoming a 
librarian and a consul; but the result was a firm 
reversion to his primary tastes for rural life and books. 
It is curious, as a psychological study, to trace the 
lapse of youth into manhood and senility, as indicated 
in the writings of men of talent, and observe how 
differently time and experience affect them, according 
to the elements of their characters. Some have their 
individuality of purpose and feeling gradually overlaid 
by the influences of their age and position, and in 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 11 

others it only asserts itself with more vehemence. 
There is every degree of independence and mobility, 
from the isolated hardihood of a Dante to the fertile 
aptitude of a Brougham. It was the normal condition 
of Southey to be conservative ; taste and habit, affection 
and temperament, combined to reconcile him to things 
as they are, or, at least, to wean him from the restless 
life of a reformer. An intellectual friend of mine, 
noted for his love of ease, and whose creed was far 
more visionary than practical, surprised a circle, on 
one occasion, with his earnest advocacy of some po- 
litical measure, and sighed heavily, as he added, 
" Vigilance is the eternal price of liberty." " But 
why," asked a companion, " do you put on the watch- 
man's cap ?" The inquiry was apposite ; he had no 
vocation to fight in the vanguard of opinion. And 
this seems to us a more charitable way of accounting 
for Southey's change of views than to join his opponents 
in ascribing it to unalloyed selfishness. 

To the secluded litterateur, watching over his gifted 
invalid boy amid romantic lakes and mountains, the 
calm and nature-loving Wordsworth was a more de- 
sirable companion than Godwin, to whom, at a previous 
era, he acknowledged himself under essential intellec- 
tual obligations. His wife, the gentle and devoted 
Edith, might have objected to such an inmate as Mary 
Wolstonecraft, whom her husband preferred to all 
the literary lions during his early visits to London ; 
and it was far more agreeable to " counteract sedition" 
in his quiet studio at Keswick, than to roughly expe- 



12 THE MAX OF LETTERS : 

rience Pantisocracy in America ; while a man of sterner 
mould might be pardoned for preferring a pic-nic 
glorification over the battle of Waterloo, on the top of 
Skiddaw, to a lonely struggle for human rights against 
the overwhelming tide of popular scorn, which drove 
the more adventurous and poetic Shelley into exile. 
All Southey's compassion, however, so oracularly ex- 
pressed for that sensitive and heroic spirit, derogates 
not a particle from the superior nobility of soul for 
which generous thinkers cherish his memory. "We 
can, however, easily follow the natural gradations by 
which the boy Southey, whose ideal was the Earl of 
"Warwick, and the youth Southey, intent upon human 
progress and social reformation, became the man 
Southey, a good citizen, industrious author, exemplary 
husband and father, and most loyal subject. Indeed, 
the conservative mood begins to appear even before 
any avowed change in his opinions. Soon after his 
return from the first visit to Lisbon, while hesitating 
what profession to adopt, and while his friends were 
discouraged at the apparent speculative recklessness 
and desultory life he indulged, we find him writing to 
G-rosvenor, one of his most intimate friends, "lam 
conversing with you now in that easy, calm, good- 
humoured state of mind which is, perhaps, the summum 
bonum ; the less we think of the world the better. My 
feelings were once like an ungovernable horse ; now I 
have tamed Bucephalus ; he retains his spirit and his 
strength, but they are made useful, and he shall not 
break my neck." 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 13 

This early visit to Lisbon, when his mind was in its 
freshest activity, attracted him to the literature of 
Spain and Portugal ; and the local associations which 
gave them so vivid a charm to his taste, imparted 
kindred life to his subsequent critiques and historical 
sketches devoted to these scenes and people. They 
furnish another striking instance of the felicitous 
manner in which the experience of foreign travel and 
the results of study coalesce in literary productions. 

Authorship, indeed, was so exclusively the vocation 
of Southey, that his life may be said to have been 
identified with it ; yet pursued, as we have seen, m a 
spirit often mechanical, we are not surprised that, 
while he felt himself adapted to the pursuit, he was 
sometimes conscious of that mediocrity which is the 
inevitable fruit of a wilful tension of the mind. Thus, 
while to one friend he writes, " One happy choice I 
made when I betook myself to literature as my business 
in life ;" to another, in 1815, he declares, " I have the 
disheartening conviction that my best is done, and 
that to add to the bulk of my works will not be to add 
to their estimation." Yet Southey, like all genuine 
authors, cherished his dream of glory, and probably 
anticipated enduring renown from his poetry. The 
mechanical spirit of his literary toil, however, was 
carried into verse. He set about designing a poem as 
he did a history or a volume of memoirs, and proceeded 
to fill up the outline with the same complacent alacrity. 
Many of these works exhibit great ingenuity of con- 
struction, both as regards form and language. They 



14 THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

are striking examples of the inventive faculty, and 
show an extraordinary command of language ; in this 
latter regard, some of his verses are the most curious 
in our literature ; — the " Fall of Lodore" is an instance. 
But it is obvious that, unless fused by the glow of sen- 
timent, however aptly constructed, elaborate versified 
tales can scarcely be ranked among the standard poems 
of any language. The best passages of his long poems 
are highly imaginative, but the style is diffuse, the 
interest complicated, and there is a want of human 
interest that prevents any strong enlistment of the 
sympathies. They have not the picturesque and living 
attraction of Scott, nor yet the natural tenderness of 
Burns ; but are melo- dramatic, and make us wonder 
at the author's fertility of invention, rather than be- 
come attached to its fruits. 

One of the most striking instances of want of dis- 
crimination in the critical tone of the day, was the 
habit of designating Coleridge, Wordsworth, and 
Southey under the same general term. The only com- 
mon ground for calling them the Lake School was the 
fact that they each resided among the lakes of Cum- 
berland at one and the same time. The diffuse, 
reflective, philosophic muse of Wordsworth is as essen- 
tially different from the mystic and often profoundly 
tender sentiment of Coleridge, as both are from the 
elaborate chronicles and rhetorical artifice of Southey. 
His "Pilgrimage to "Waterloo" is an apt and clever 
journal in verse, occasionally, from its personal style 
and simplicity, quite attractive ; his laureate odes have 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 15 

a respectable sound, and frequently a commendable 
sense, but rarely any bardic fire or exquisite grace. 
In a word, although there is much to admire in 
Southey's poetry as the work of a creative fancy and 
the result of research and facility, as well as invention 
in the use of language, we seldom find, in perusing his 
works, any of those " Elysian corners of intuition," 
where Leigh Hunt speaks of comparing notes with 
the reader. The amplitude, variety, and tact of con- 
structive talent, and not the glow and mystery of 
genius, win us to his page. It informs, entertains, 
and seldom offends ; but rarely melts, kindles, or 
nerves the spirit. 

His most obstinate admirers cannot but admit that, 
as poems, " Joan of Arc," " Madoc," and " Koderic " 
have many tedious passages. They are fluent, authentic 
chronicles recorded in a strain that so often lapses 
from the spirit and dignity of the muse as to read like 
mere prose. Here and there, a graphic descriptive 
sketch or felicitous epithet redeems the narrative : but 
no one can wonder that, in an age when Byron indi- 
vidualized human passion in the most kindling rhyme, 
when Crabbe described so truthfully humble life, and 
Shelley touched the ideal spirit with his aerial phantasy, 
a species of poetry comparatively so distant from the 
associations of the heart should fail to achieve popu- 
larity. Indeed, Southey recognized the fact, and 
seemed not unwilling to share the favour of a limited 
but select circle with Landor and others, who, instead 
of universal suffrage, gain the special admiration of 



16 THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

the few. No author, however, cherished a greater 
faith in literature as a means of reputation. " Literary 
fame," he says, " is the only fame of which a wise man 
ought to be ambitious, because it is the only lasting 
and living fame. Bonaparte will be forgotten before 
his time in purgatory is half over, or but just remem- 
bered like Nimrod or other cut-throats of antiquity, 
who serve us for the commonplaces of declamation. 
Put out your mind in a great poem, and you will 
exercise authority over the feelings and opinions of 
mankind as long as the language lasts." 

The two poems upon which Southey evidently most 
genially laboured are " Thalaba" and " The Curse of 
Kehama." They bear the most distinct traces of his 
idiosyncrasies as evinced in boyhood, when a transla- 
tion of the " Jerusalem Delivered " seems to have first 
directly appealed to his poetic instinct. The scenes of 
enchantment particularly fascinated him! then came 
" Ariosto" and " Spenser." The narrative form, and 
the imaginative and romantic character of these works 
harmonized with Southey' s mind, and they continued 
his poetic vein after the taste of the age had become 
wedded to the natural, the human, and the direct in 
poetry. His tone and imagery were somewhat modified 
by Bowles and Coleridge ; but he remained essentially 
in the class of romantic and narrative bards, in whose 
productions, general effects, vague dramatic and super- 
natural charms, and heroic chronicles form the per- 
vading traits. Another characteristic of the modern 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 17 

poetry he lacked was concentration. One concise 
vivid, and inspired lyric outlives the most laboured 
epic. Sterling's brief tribute to " Joan of Arc" brings 
her nearer to us than Southey's quarto. 

As works of art, the varied rhyme and rhythm, 
and prolific fancy, won for Southey's long poems a 
certain degree of attention and respect ; but he is 
remembered more for certain fine passages than for 
entire compositions. In these, his claim to the title 
of poet, in the best sense of the word, asserts itself ; 
and, but for these, he would rank only as a clever 
improvisatore. Learning, indeed, overlays inspira- 
tion in his long poems. He faithfully explored Welsh 
annals for the materials of "Madoc," Hindoo my- 
thology and Asiatic scenery for the " Curse of 
Kehama," and Grothic history for " Roderic." All 
narrative poems are somewhat indebted to external 
materials ; but these must be fused, as we have be- 
fore hinted, into a consistent and vital whole by the 
glow of some personal sentiment, ere they will find 
universal response. Thus, the intense conscious- 
ness of Byron, the chivalric zeal of Campbell, and 
the amorous fancy of Moore, give a life and signifi- 
cance to their stories in verse that invest them with 
a sympathetic atmosphere and unity of feeling. 
There is little of this in Southey's narratives ; they 
are more ingenious than glowing, more imaginative 
than natural ; and they entertain more than they in- 
spire. He seems destitute of that sacred reserve 

c 



18 THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

which renders manners so efficient, deepens love's 
channel, and hallows truth to consciousness ; that 
instinctive suggestiveness, which is a great secret 
of Dante's power, giving sublime imitations of 
Tennyson's exquisite sentiment, vaguely hinting the 
inexpressible ; and of Wordsworth's solemn mysti- 
cism, as in the " Ode on the Prospect of Immortal- 
ity." To such lofty and profound elements, the 
poetry of Southey has no claims : but, in descriptive 
aptitude, and especially in rhetorical effect, he is 
sometimes remarkable. Occasionally, in these quali- 
ties, in their simplicity, he reminds us of the old 
dramatists ; thus, in Madoc — 

"The masters of the song, 
In azure robes were robed — -that one bright hue, 
To emblem unity, and peace, and truth, 
Like Heaven, which o'er a world of wickedness 
Spreads its eternal canopy serene." 

And again, in the same poem — 

"'Tis pleasant, by the cheerful hearth, to hear 
Of tempests and the dangers of the deep, 
And pause at times and feel that we are safe, 
Then listen to the perilous tale again, 
And with an eager and suspended soul 
Woo terror to delight us." 

In Ecderic is a fine and characteristic image — 

' • Toward the troop he spread his arms, 
As if the expanded soul diffused itself, 
And carried to all spirits with the act 
Its affluent inspiration." 

The description of moonlight in this poem, so justly 

admired, we perceive by one of the author's letters, 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 19 

was drawn from an actual scene, which evidences 
the absolute need of strong personal impressions even 
for an imaginative poet. The description of the ruins 
of Babylon, in Thalaba — 

"The many -coloured domes yet wore one dusky hue" — 

is one of the happiest examples of Southey's powers 
of language, and musical adaptation of rhythm to 
sense. To one having a natural feeling of wonder 
and fine elocutionary powers, it is susceptible of the 
most solemn recitative effect. The beautiful pas- 
sage in his " Curse of Kehama," commencing, "Thei- 
sm who tell us love can die," the ballads of " Mazy 
of the Inn" and "The Battle of Blenheim," the 
"Verses to a Dead Friend," and " The Holly Tree," 
are among the fugitive pieces written from actual 
emotion, which illustrate Southey's affections, and 
have endeared him as a lyrist. 

Southey remarks, in one of his letters, that he 
most nearly resembles Chiarbrera, an Italian bard 
of the fifteenth century, who enjoyed high honours 
for his verses, and died at a prosperous old age. 
His works are comparatively neglected at present ; 
but Maffei, the literary historian, ascribes his suc- 
cess to merits very similar to those we have recog- 
nized in Southey. According to this critic, it was a 
Baying of Chiarbrera that he wished to follow the 
example of Columbus and discover a new world or 
perish, and that poetry should "lift the eyebrow:" 



20 THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

thus declaring surprise to be the great effect, and 
novelty the great means of poetic excellence. Ac- 
cordingly, his verse was prized chiefly for its style, 
which innovated greatly upon familiar models, and 
for its erudition, which was remarkable for that day. 
Thus his renown was gained by ingenuity and scho- 
larship rather than through intense natural sympathy 
or genuine inspiration. We therefore find Southey's 
own estimate of his poetry, in a great degree, con- 
firms our own. But this coincidence is as clearly, 
though less directly, suggested by his casual observa- 
tions on the art, in his letters to cotemporary wri- 
ters, his advice to young poets who sought encou- 
ragement from his counsel. 

It is obvious, from the incidental views thus honestly 
expressed, that he had not a vivid and permanent con- 
sciousness of a poet's birthright ; that the art was too 
much a branch of authorship, and too little a sacred 
instinct in his estimation ; and that the more erratic 
versifiers of the age, less elaborate, but far more 
intense and genuine, won their larger popularity on 
legitimate grounds. He tells one of his correspon- 
dents, who had solicited his opinion of a poem, that 
his friends reckon him " a very capricious and uncer- 
tain judge of poetry ;" and elsewhere, in speaking of 
the error which identifies the power of enjoying 
natural beauty with that of producing poetry, he says, 
" One is a gift of heaven, and conduces immeasurably 
to the happiness of those who enjoy it ; the second has 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 21 

much more of a knack in it than the pride of poets 
is always willing to admit." If Southey's poetic 
faculty and feeling had been equal to his "knack" 
of versifying, he would have been quite as reluctant 
to ascribe to ingenuity what was consciously derived 
from a power above the will. Perhaps he was 
chagrined into this commonplace view of the art 
by the fact that, while Scott was receiving three 
thousand guineas for the " Lady of the Lake," the 
" Curse of Kehama" was going through the press at 
the expense of Landor. 

The professional character of Southey's life is 
almost incompatible with the highest literary re- 
sults. His great merit as a writer consists in the 
utility of a portion of his works, and their unexcep- 
tionable morality and good sense. The most sur- 
prising quality he exhibited as an author was industry. 
His name is thoroughly respectable in literature as 
it was in life ; but it would be unjust to the chival- 
ric and earnest genius of the age, elsewhere mani- 
fested in deeper and more significant, though less 
voluminous records, to award to Southey either the 
title of a great poet or a leader of opinion. His 
career, in regard to the latter, is clearly explained 
in his biography. "We perceive that, even in boy- 
hood, the intellect predominated in his nature. In 
the heyday of his blood, the companionship of bolder 
Bpirits and less chastened enthusiasts, the infectious 
atmosphere of the French Revolution and the acti- 



22 THE MAN OF LETTERS : 

vity of the poetical instinct, not yet formalized into 
service, made him, for a while, the independent 
thinker in religion and politics, and induced visions 
of social equality which he hoped to realize across 
the sea. But early domestic ties and a natural love 
of study won him gradually back to conservative 
quietude. More than either of his brother poets, 
Southey had the temperament and taste of a scho- 
lar. He neither felt as deeply nor dreamed as 
habitually as Coleridge. The sensuous and the ima- 
ginative were not so united in his being with the 
intellectual He needed less excitement; his spirit 
was far less adventurous ; and . life did not press 
upon and around him with such prophetic and incit- 
ing power. 

It is needless to ascribe the change in his views 
altogether to interest ; this may have had its influ- 
ence, but the character of the man yields a for 
more natural solution of the problem. He was 
doubtless as sincere when he accepted the laureate- 
ship as when he wrote " "Wat Tyler ;" but, in the 
latter case, his " blood and judgment were not well 
commingled." Southey, the Eristol youth, penni- 
less, aspiring, and fed with the daily manna of 
poetic communion, looked upon society with differ- 
ent eyes than Southey, the recognized English au- 
thor, resident of Cumberland, and father of a family- 
This district is famous for its lead-pencils, as well 
as its fine scenery, and was thus as well adapted by 



ROBERT SOUTHEY. 23 

nature for a scribe as a bard or prophet. In the 

former vocation, though not in its highest sense, lay 

the force and aim of Southey. He knew how to 

use materials aptly, how to weave into connected 

and intelligible narrative the crude and fragmentary 

data of history and memoirs. In this manner, he 

greatly served all readers of English. His " Life of 

Wesley" is the most authentic and lucid exposition 

of an extraordinary phase of the religious sentiment 

on record. Of Brazil and the Peninsular "War, he 

has chronicled memorable things in a perspicuous 

style. Few pictures of British life are more true to 

fact and suggestive than " Espriella's Letters." The 

"Life of Nelson" is a model of unaffected, direct 

narrative, allowing the facts to speak for themselves 

through the clearest possible medium of expression ; 

and yet this most popular of Southey' s books, far 

from being the offspring of any strong personal 

sympathy or perception, was so entirely a literary 

job, that he says it was thrust upon him, and that he 

moved among the sea terms like a cat among crockery. 

For a considerable period after the establishment of 

the ' Quarterly,' he found reviews the most profitable 

labour. Many of these are judicious and informing, 

but they seldom quicken or elevate either by rhetorical 

or reflective energy, and are too often special pleas 

to excite great interest. Those on purely literary 

subjects, however, are agreeable. 

If we were to name, in a single term, the quality 



24 THE MAN OF LETTERS. 

for which Southey is eminent, we should call him a 
verbal architect. His prose works do not open to 
our mental gaze new and wondrous vistas of thought ; 
they are not deeply impressive from the greatness, 
or strangely winsome from the beauty of their ideas. 
Their rhetoric does not warm and stir the mind, nor 
is their scope highly philosophic or gracefully pic- 
turesque. But their style is correct, unaffected, and 
keeps that medium which good taste approves in 
manners, speech, and costume, but which we sel- 
dom see transferred to the art of writing. For pure 
narrative, where the object is to give the reader un- 
alloyed facts, and leave his own reflection and fancy 
to shape and colour them, no English author has 
surpassed Southey. He appears to have been quite 
conscious of the moderate standard to which he 
aspired: "As to what is called fine writing," he 
says, "the public will get none of that article out 
of me : sound sense, sound philosophy, and sound 
English I will give them." There is no doubt, in 
so doing, he consulted the Anglo-Saxon love of regu- 
lated and useful principles and hatred of extrava- 
gance, and was thus an admirable type of the mo- 
dern English mind; but such an ideal, however 
praiseworthy and respectable, scarcely coincides with 
the more noble and inspired mood in which the 
permanent masterpieces of literary genius are con- 
ceived and executed. 



THE PIONEEE: 

DANIEL BOONE. 

There hung, for many months, on the walls of the 
Art-Union gallery in New- York, a picture by Kanney, 
so thoroughly national in its subject and true to nature 
in its execution, that it was refreshing to contemplate 
it, after being wearied with far more ambitious yet 
less successful attempts. It represented a flat ledge 
of rock, the summit of a high cliff that projected over 
a rich, umbrageous country, upon wmich a band of 
hunters leaning on their rifles, were gazing with looks 
of delighted surprise. The foremost, a compact and 
agile, though not very commanding figure, is pointing 
out the landscape to his comrades, with an air of 
exultant yet calm satisfaction ; the wind lifts his thick 
hair from a brow full of energy and perception ; his 
loose hunting shirt, his easy attitude, the fresh brown 
tint of his cheek, and an ingenuous, cheerful, deter- 
mined yet benign expression of countenance, proclaim 
the hunter and pioneer, the Columbus of the woods, 



26 



THE PIONEER : 



the forest philosopher and brave champion. The 
picture represents Daniel Boone discovering to his 
companions the fertile levels of Kentucky. This re- 
markable man, although he does not appear to have 
originated any great plans or borne the responsibility 
of an appointed leader in the warlike expeditions in 
which he was engaged, possessed one of those rarely 
balanced natures, and that unpretending efficiency of 
character which, though seldom invested with historical 
prominence, abound in personal interest. Without 
political knowledge, he sustained an infant settlement ; 
destitute of a military education, he proved one of the 
most formidable antagonists the Indians ever encoun- 
tered ; with no pretensions to a knowledge of civil 
engineering, he laid out the first road through the 
wilderness of Kentucky ; unfamiliar with books, he 
reflected deeply and attained to philosophical con- 
victions that yielded him equanimity of mind ; devoid 
of poetical expression, he had an extraordinary feeling 
for natural beauty, and described his sensations and 
emotions, amid the wild seclusion of the forest, as 
prolific of delight ; with manners entirely simple and 
unobtrusive, there was not the least rudeness in his 
demeanour ; and relentless in fight, his disposition was 
thoroughly humane ; his rifle and his cabin, with the 
freedom of the woods, satisfied his wants ; the sense 
of insecurity in which no small portion of his life was 
passed, only rendered him circumspect ; and his trials 
induced a serene patience and fortitude ; while his 



PAXIEL BOOXE. 27 

love of adventure was a ceaseless inspiration. Such 
a man forms an admirable progenitor in that nursery 
of character — the TTest : and a fine contrast to the 
development elsewhere induced by the spirit of trade 
and political ambition ; like the rudely sculptured 
calumets picked up on the plantations of Kentucky — 
memorials of a primitive race, whose mounds and 
copper utensils yet attest a people antecedent to the 
Indians that fled before the advancing settlements of 
Boone — his character indicates for the descendants of 
the hunters and pioneers, a brave, independent, and 
noble ancestry. Thus, as related to the diverse forms 
of national character in the various sections of the 
country, as well as on account of its intrinsic attrac- 
tiveness, the western pioneer is an object of peculiar 
interest ; and the career of Boone is alike distinguished 
for its association with romantic adventure and his- 
torical fact. 

A consecutive narrative, however, would yield but an 
ineffective picture of his life as it exists in the light of 
sympathetic reflection. The pioneer, like the mariner, 
alternates between long uneventfulperiods and moments 
fraught with excitement ; the forest, like the ocean, is 
monotonous as well as grand ; and its tranquil beauty, 
for weeks together, may not be sublimated by terror ; 
yet in both spheres there is an under-current of sug- 
gestive life, and when the spirit of conflict and vigi- 
lance sleeps, that of contemplation is often alive. 
Perhaps it is this very succession of " moving acci- 



28 THE PIONEER : 

dents " and lonely quiet, of solemn repose and intense 
activity, that constitutes the fascination which the sea 
and the wilderness possess for imaginative minds. 
They appeal at once to poetical and heroic instincts : 
and these are more frequently combined in the same 
individual, than we usually suppose. Before at- 
tempting to realize the characteristics of Boone in 
their unity, we must note the salient points in his 
experience ; and this is best done by reviving a few 
scenes which typify the whole drama. 

It is midnight in the forest ; and, through the in- 
terstices of its thickly woven branches, pale moonbeams 
glimmer on the emerald sward. The only sounds that 
break upon the brooding silence, are an occasional 
gust of wind amid the branches of the loftier trees, 
the hooting of an owl, and, sometimes, the wild cry of 
a beast disappointed of his prey, or scared by the 
dusky figure of a savage on guard at a watch-fire. 
Beside its glowing embers, and leaning against the 
huge trunk of a gigantic hemlock, sit two girls whose 
complexion and habiliments indicate their Anglo-Saxon 
origin ; their hands are clasped together, and one 
appears to sleep as her head rests upon her companion's 
shoulder. They are very pale, and an expression of 
anxiety is evident in the very firmness of their re- 
signed looks. A slight rustle in the thick undergrowth 
near their camp, causes the Indian sentinel to rise 
quickly to his feet and peer in the direction of the 
sound ; a moment after he leaps up, with a piercing 



DAXIEL BOOXE. 29 

shout, and falls bleeding npon the ground, while the 
crack of a rifle echoes through the wood : in an 
instant twenty Indians spring from around the fire, 
raise the war-whoop, and brandish their tomahawks ; 
but three or four instantly drop before the deadly aim 
of the invaders, several run howling with pain into the 
depths of the forest, and the remainder set off on an 
opposite trail. Then calmly, but with an earnest joy, 
revealed by the dying flames upon his features, a 
robust, compactly knit figure, moves with a few hasty 
strides towards the females, gazes eagerly into their 
faces, lifts one in his arms and presses her momentarily 
to his breast, gives a hasty order, and his seven com- 
panions with the three in their midst, rapidly retrace 
their way over the tangled brushwood and amid the 
pillared trunks, until they come out, at dawn, upon a 
clearing, studded with enormous roots, among which 
waves the tasselled maize, beside a spacious log- 
dwelling surrounded by a pallisade. An eager, tearful 
group rush out to meet them ; and the weary and 
hungry band are soon discussing their midnight ad- 
venture over a substantial breakfast of game. Thus 
Boone rescued his daughter and her friend when thev 
were taken captive by the Indians, within sight of his 
primitive dwelling ; — an incident which illustrates 
more than pages of description, how closely pioneer 
presses upon savage life, and with what peril civili- 
zation encroaches upon the domain of nature. 

It is the dawn of a spring day in the wilderness ; 



30 THE PIONEER : 

as steals the gray pearly light over the densely waving 
tree-tops, an eagle majestically rises from a withered 
bough, and floats through the silent air, becoming a 
mere speck on the sky ere he disappears over the dis- 
tant mountains ; dew-drops are condensed on the 
green threads of the pine and the swollen buds of the 
hickory ; pale bulbs and spears of herbage shoot from 
the black loam, amid the decayed leaves ; in the in- 
most recesses of the wood, the rabbit's tread is audi- 
ble, and the chirp of the squirrel. 

As the sunshine expands, a thousand notes of birds 
at work on their nests, invade the solitude ; the bear 
fearlessly laps the running stream, and the elk turns 
his graceful head from the pendant branch he is 
nibbling, at an unusual sound from the adjacent cane- 
brake. It is a lonely man rising from his night 
slumber ; with his blanket on his arm and his rifle 
grasped in one hand, he approaches the brook and 
bathes his head and neck ; then glancing around, 
turns aside the interwoven thickets near by, and 
climbs a stony mound shadowed by a fine clump of 
oaks, where stands an humble but substantial cabin ; 
he lights a fire upon the flat stone before the entrance, 
kneads a cake of maize, while his venison steak is 
broiling, and carefully examines the priming of his 
rifle. The meal dispatched with a hearty relish, he 
closes the door of his lodge, and saunters through 
the wilderness ; his eye roves from the wild flower at 
his feet, to the cliff that looms afar off"; he pauses in 



DANIEL BOOXE. 31 

admiration before some venerable sylvan monarch; 
watches the bounding stag his intrusion has disturbed ; 
cuts a little spray from the sassafras, with the knife 
in his girdle. 

As the sun rises higher, he penetrates deeper into 
the vast and beautiful forest ; each form of vegetable 
life, from the enormous fungi to the delicate vine- 
wreath, the varied structure of the trees, the cries and 
motions of the wild animals and birds, excite in his 
mind a delightful sense of infinite power and beauty ; 
he feels, as he walks, in every nerve and vein the 
" glorious privilege of being independent ;" reveries 
that bathe his soul in a tranquil yet lofty pleasure, 
succeed each other ; and the sight of some lovely 
vista induces him to lie down upon a heap of dead 
leaves and lose himself in contemplation. Weariness 
and hunger, or the deepening gloom of approaching 
night, at length warn him to retrace his steps ; on 
the way, he shoots a wild turkey for his supper, 
sits over the Avatch-fire, beneath the solemn firma- 
ment of stars, and recalls the absent and loved 
through the first watches of the night. Months 
have elapsed since he has thus lived alone in the 
wilderness, his brother having left him to seek 
ammunition and provision at distant settlements. 
Despondency, for awhile, rendered his loneliness 
oppressive, but such is his love of nature and freedom, 
his zest for life in the woods and a natural self-reliance, 
that gradually he attains a degree of happiness which 



32 THE PIONEER : 

De Toe's hero might have envied. Nature is a benign 
mother, and whispers consoling secrets to attentive 
ears, and mysteriously cheers the heart of her pure 
votaries who truthfully cast themselves on her bosom- 
Not thus serenely however glides away the forest 
life of our pioneer. He is jealously watched by the 
Indians, upon whose hunting-grounds he is encroach- 
ing : they steal upon his retreat and make him captive, 
and in this situation a new phase of his character 
exhibits itself. The soul that has been in long and 
intimate communion with natural grandeur and beauty, 
and learned the scope and quality of its own resources, 
gains self-possession and foresight. The prophets of 
old did not resort to the desert in vain ; and the 
bravery and candour of hunters and seamen is partly 
the result of the isolation and hardihood of their 
lives. Boone excelled as a sportsman ; he won the 
respect of his savage captors by his skill and fortitude ; 
and more than once, without violence, emancipated 
himself, revealed their bloody schemes to his country- 
men, and met them on the battle-field, with a coldness 
and celerity that awoke their intense astonishment. 
Again, and again, he saw his companions fall before 
their tomahawks and rifles ; his daughter, as we have 
seen, was stolen from his very door, though fortu- 
nately rescued ; his son fell before his eyes in a conflict 
with the Indians who opposed their emigration to 
Kentucky ; his brother and his dearest friends were 
victims either to their strategy or violence ; his own 



DANIEL BOONE. 33 

immunity is to be accounted for by the influence he 
had acquired over his foes, which induced them often 
to spare his life — an influence derived from the 
extraordinary tact, patience, and facility of action, 
which his experience and character united to foster. 

Two other scenes of his career are requisite to the 
picture. On the banks of the Missouri river, less 
than forty years ago, there stood a few small rude 
cabins in the shape of a hollow square ; in one of 
these, the now venerable figure of the gallant hunter 
is listlessly stretched upon a couch ; a slice of buck 
twisted on the ramrod of his rifle, is roasting by the 
fire, within reach of his hand ; he is still alone, but 
the surrounding cabins are occupied by his thriving 
descendants. The vital energies of the pioneer are 
gradually ebbing away, though his thick white locks, 
well-knit frame, and the light of his keen eye, evidence 
the genuineness and prolonged tenure of his life. 
Over-matched by the conditions of the land law in 
Kentucky, and annoyed by the march of civilization 
in the regions he had known in their primitive beaut}', 
he had wandered here, far from the state he founded 
and the haunts of his manhood, to die with the same 
adventurous and independent spirit in which he had 
lived. He occupied some of the irksome hours of 
confinement incident to age, in polishing his own 
cherrywood coffin ; and it is said he was found dead 
in the woods at last, a few rods from his dwelling. 
On an autumn day, six years since, a hearse might 



34 THE PIONEER : 

have been seen winding up the main street of Frank- 
fort, Kentucky, drawn by white horses, and garlanded 
with evergreens. The pall-bearers comprised some of 
the most distinguished men of the state. It was the 
second funeral of Daniel Boone. By an act of the 
legislature, his remains were removed from the banks 
of the Missouri to the public cemetery of the capitol 
of Kentucky, and there deposited with every ceremonial 
of respect and love. 

This oblation was in the highest degree just and 
appropriate, for the name of Boone is identified with 
the state he originally explored, and his character 
associates itself readily with that of her people and 
scenery. JS"o part of the country is more individual in 
these respects than Kentucky. As the word imports, 
it was at once the hunting and battle-ground of savage 
tribes for centuries : and not until the middle of the 
eighteenth century, was it well-known to Anglo-Saxon 
explorers. The elk and buffalo held undisputed pos- 
session with the Indian ; its dark forests served 
as a contested boundary between the Cherokees, 
Creeks and Catawbas of the South, and the Shawnees, 
Delawares and Wyandots of the North ; and to 
these inimical tribes it was indeed " a dark and bloody 
ground." 

Unauthenticated expeditions thither we hear of 
before that of Boone, but with his first visit the history 
of the region becomes clear and progressive, remarkable 
for its rapid and steady progress and singular fortunes. 



DANIEL BOONE. 35 

The same year that Independence was declared, 
Virginia, made a county of the embryo state, and forts 
scattered at intervals over the face of the country, 
alone yielded refuge to the colonists from their barba- 
rian invaders. In 1778, Du Quesne, with his Canadian 
and Indian army, met with a vigorous repulse at 
Boonesborough ; in 1778, occurred Eoger Clark's 
brilliant expedition against the English forts of Vin- 
cennes and Kaskaskias: and the next year, a single 
blockhouse — the forlorn hope of advancing civilization 
— was erected by Eobert Patterson where Lexington 
now stands; soon after took place the unfortunate 
expedition of Col. Bowman against the Indians of 
Chilicothe; and the Virginian legislature passed the 
celebrated land law. This enactment neglected to 
provide for a general survey at the expense of the 
government ; each holder of a warrant located there- 
fore at pleasure, and made his own survey ; yet a 
special entry was required by the law in order clearly 
to designate boundaries ; the vagueness of many entries 
rendered the titles null: those of Boone and men 
similarly unacquainted with legal writing, were, of 
course, destitute of any accuracy of description ; and 
hence interminable perplexity, disputes and forfeitures. 
The immediate consequences of the law, however, was 
to induce a flood of emigration ; and the fever of land 
speculation rose and spread to an unexampled height ; 
to obtain patents for rich lands became the ruling 
passion ; and simultaneous Indian hostilities prevailed 



36 THE PIONEER : 

— so that Kentucky was transformed, all at once, from 
an agricultural and hunting region thinly peopled, to 
an arena where rapacity and war swayed a vast multi- 
tude. The conflicts, law-suits, border adventures, and 
personal feuds growing out of this condition of affairs, 
would yield memorable themes, without number, for 
the annalist. To this epoch succeeded " a labyrinth 
of conventions." 

The position of Kentucky was anomalous ; the 
appendage of a state unable to protect her frontier 
from savage invasion ; her future prosperity in a 
great measure dependent upon the glorious river 
that bounded her domain, and the United States 
government already proposing to yield the right of its 
navigation to a foreign power; separated by the 
Alleghany mountains from the populous and cultivated 
East; and the tenure by which estates were held 
within its limits quite unsettled, it is scarcely to be 
wondered at, that reckless political adventurers began 
to look upon Kentucky as a promising sphere for their 
intrigues. Without adverting to any particular 
instances, or renewing the inquiry into the motives of 
prominent actors in those scenes, it is interesting to 
perceive how entirely the intelligence and honour of 
the people triumphed over selfish ambition and 
cunning artifice. Foreign governments and domestic 
traitors failed in their schemes to alienate the isolated 
state from the growing confederacy ; repulsed as she 
was again and again in her attempts to secure con- 



DANIEL BOONE. 37 

stitutional freedom, she might have said to the parent 
government, with the repudiated " lady wedded to the 
Moor "— 

" Unkindness may do much, 

And your unkindness may achieve my life, 

But never taint my love." 

Kentucky was admitted into the Union on the 
fourth of February, 1791. 

From this outline of her history, we can readily 
perceive how rich and varied was the material whence 
has sprung the "Western character ; its highest phase 
is doubtless to be found in Kentucky ; and, in our 
view, best illustrates American in distinction from 
European civilization. In the North this is essentially 
modified by the cosmopolite influence of the seaboard, 
and in the South, by a climate which assimilates her 
people with those of the same latitudes elsewhere ; but 
in the West, and especially in Kentucky, we find the 
foundation of social existence laid by the hunters — 
whose love of the woods, equality of condition, habits 
of sport and agriculture, and distance from convention- 
alities, combine to nourish independence, strength of 
mind, candour, and a fresh and genial spirit. The 
ease and freedom of social intercourse, the abeyance of 
the passion for gain ; and the scope given to the play 
of character, accordingly developed a noble race. 

¥e can scarcely imagine a more appropriate figure 
in the foreground of the picture than Daniel Boone, 
who embodies the honesty, intelligence and chivalric 



38 THE PIONEER : 

spirit of the state. With a population, descended from 
the extreme sections of the land, from emigrants of 
New England as well as Virginia and North Carolina, 
and whose immediate progenitors were chiefly agricul- 
tural gentlemen, a generous and spirited character 
might have been prophesied of the natives of Ken- 
tucky; and it is in the highest degree natural for a 
people thus descended and with such habits, to cling 
with entire loyalty to their parent government, and to 
yield, as they did, ardent though injudicious sympathy 
to France in the hour of her revolutionary crisis. 
Impulsive and honourable, her legitimate children 
belong to the aristocracy of nature ; without the 
general intellectual refinement of the Atlantic states, 
they possess a far higher physical development and 
richer social instincts ; familiar with the excessive 
development of the religious and political sentiments, 
in all varieties and degrees, their views are more broad 
though less discriminate than those entertained in 
older communities. The Catholic from Maryland, 
the Puritan from Connecticut, and the Churchman 
of Carolina, amicably flourish together ; and the con- 
servative and fanatic are alike undisturbed ; the con- 
vent and the camp-meeting being, often within sight 
of each other, equally respected. 

Nature, too, has been as liberal as the social ele- 
ments in endowing Kentucky with interesting associa- 
tions. That mysterious fifteen miles of subterranean 
wonders known as the Mammoth Cave, — its wonder- 



DANIEL BOONE. 39 

ful architecture, fossil remains, nitrous atmosphere, 
echoes, fish with only the rudiment of an optic nerve, 
— its chasms and cataracts — is one of the most re- 
markable objects in the world. The boundaries of 
the state are unequalled in beauty ; on the east the 
Laurel Ridge or Cumberland Mountain, and on the 
west the Father of Waters. In native trees she is 
peculiarly rich — the glorious magnolia, the prolific 
sugar-tree, the laurel and the buckeye, the hickory 
and honey locust, the mulberry, ash, and flowing 
catalpa, attest in every village and roadside, the 
sylvan aptitudes of the soil ; while the thick buffalo 
grass and finest crown-imperial in the world, clothe 
it with a lovely garniture. The blue limestone for- 
mation predominates, and its grotesque cliffs and 
caverns render much of the geological scenery 
peculiar and interesting. 

The lover of the picturesque and characteristic, 
must often regret that artistic and literary genius 
has not adequately preserved the original local and 
social features of our own primitive communities. 
Facility of intercourse and the assimilating influence 
of trade are rapidly bringing the traits and tendencies 
of all parts of the country to a common level ; yet in 
the natives of each section in whom strong idiosyn- 
crasies have kept intact the original bias of character, 
we find the most striking and suggestive diversity. 
According to the glimpses afforded us by tradition, 
letters, and as few meagre biographical data, the early 



40 THE PIOXEER : 

settlers of Kentucky united to the simplicity and 
honesty of the New- York colonists, a high degree of 
chivalric feeling ; there was an heroic vein induced 
by familiarity with danger, the necessity of mutual 
protection and the healthful excitement of the chase. 
The absence of any marked distinction of birth or 
fortune, and the high estimate placed upon society 
by those who dwell on widely separated plantations, 
caused a remarkably cordial, hospitable and warm 
intercourse to prevail, almost unknown at the North 
and East. Family honour was cherished with peculiar 
zeal ; and the women, accustomed to equestrian ex- 
ercises and brought up in the freedom and isolation 
of nature — their sex always respected and their 
charms thoroughly appreciated — acquired a spirited 
and cheerful development quite in contrast to the 
subdued, uniform tone of those educated in the com- 
mercial toAvns ; their mode of life naturally generated 
self-reliance and evoked a spirit of independence. 

Most articles in use were of domestic manufacture ; 
slavery was more patriarchal in its character than in 
the other states ; the practice of duelling, with its 
inevitable miseries, had also the effect to give a cer- 
tain tone to social life rarely witnessed in agricultural 
districts ; and the Kentucky gentleman was thus early 
initiated into the manly qualities of a Nimrod and 
the engaging and reliable one of a man of honour and 
gallantry — in its best sense. It is to circumstances 
like these that we attribute the chivalric spirit of the 



DANIEL BOONE. 41 

state. She was a somewhat wild member of the con- 
federacy — a kind of spoiled younger child, with the 
faults and the virtues incident to her age and fortunes ; 
nerved by long vigils at the outposts of civilization, — 
the wild cat invading her first school-houses and the 
Indians her scattered cornfields, — and receiving little 
parental recognition from the central government, — 
with a primitive loyalty of heart, she repudiated the 
intrigues of Genet and Burr, and baptized her 
counties for such national patriots as Fulton and 
Granatin. 

Passing through a fiery ordeal of Indian warfare, the 
fever of land speculation, great political vicissitude, 
unusual legal perplexities, imperfect legislation, and 
subsequently entire financial derangement, — she lias 
yet maintained a progressive and individual attitude ; 
and seems in her most legitimate specimens of 
character, more satisfactorily to represent the national 
type, than any other state. Her culture has not 
been as refined, nor her social spirit as versatile and 
elegant as in older communities, but a raciness, 
hardihood and genial freshness of nature have, for 
those very reasons, more completely survived; as a 
region whence to transplant or graft, if we may apply 
horticultural terms to humanity, Kentucky is a rich 
garden. Nor have these distinctions ceased to be. 
Her greatest statesman, in the nobleness of his 
character and the extraordinary personal regard he 
inspires, admirably illustrates the community of 



42 THE PIONEER : 

which Boone was the characteristic pioneer ; and the 
volunteers of Kentucky, in the Indian wars, under 
Harrison, and more recently in Mexico, have con- 
tinued to vindicate their birthright of valour ; while 
one of her most accomplished daughters sends a 
magnificent bed-quilt, wrought by her own hands, 
to the World's Fair. 

A Pennsylvanian by birth, Boone early emigrated 
to North Carolina. He appears to have first visited 
Kentucky in 1769. The bounty lands awarded to 
the Virginia troops induced surveying expeditions to 
the Ohio river ; and when Col. Henderson, in 1775, 
purchased from the Cherokees, the country south of 
the Kentucky river, the knowledge which two years 
exploration had given Boone of the region, and his 
already established reputation for firmness and adven- 
ture, caused him to be employed to survey the 
country, the fertility and picturesque charms of which 
had now become celebrated. Accordingly, the pioneer 
having satisfactorily laid out a road through the 
wilderness, not without many fierce encounters with 
the Aborigines, chose a spot to erect his log-house, 
which afterwards became the nucleus of a colony, 
and the germ of a prosperous State, on the site of the 
present town of Boonesborough. 

While transporting his family thither, they were 
surprised by the Indians, and, after severe loss, so 
far discouraged in their enterprise as to return to the 
nearest settlements : and on the first summer of their 



DANIEL BOONE. 43 

residence in Kentucky occurred the bold abduction 
of the two young girls, to which we have previously 
referred. In 1778, while engaged in making salt 
with thirty men, at the lower Blue Licks, Boone was 
captured, and while his companions were taken to 
Detroit on terms of capitulation, he was retained as 
a prisoner, though kindly treated and allowed to 
hunt. At Chillicothe he witnessed the extensive 
preparations of the Indians to join a Canadian expedi- 
tion against the infant settlement ; and effecting his 
escape, succeeded in reaching home in time to warn 
the garrison and prepare for its defence. For nine 
days he was besieged by an army of five hundred 
Indians and whites, when the enemy abandoned tlieir 
project in despair. 

In 1782 he was engaged in the memorable and 
disastrous battle of Blue Licks, and accompanied 
Gen. Clarke on his expedition to avenge it. In the 
succeeding year, peace with England being declared, 
the pioneer saw the liberty and civilization of the 
country he had known as a wilderness, only inhabited 
by wild beasts and savages, guaranteed and esta- 
blished. In 1779, having laid out the chief of his 
little property in land warrants, — on his way from 
Kentucky to Eichmond, he was robbed of twenty 
thousand dollars ; wiser claimants, versed in the legal 
conditions, deprived him of his lands ; disappointed 
and impatient, he left the glorious domain he had 
originally explored and nobly defended, and became 



44 THE PIONEER : 

a voluntary subject of the King of Spain, by making 
a new forest home on the banks of the Missouri. 
An excursion he undertook, in 1816, to Fort Osage, 
a hundred miles from his lodge, evidences the unim- 
paired vigour of his declining years. 

So indifferent to gain was Boone that he neglected 
to secure a fine estate rather than incur the trouble 
of a visit to New Orleans. An autograph letter, still 
extant, proves that he was not illiterate; and 
Governor Dunmore of Virginia, had such entire 
confidence in his vigilance and integrity, that he em- 
ployed him to conduct surveyors eight hundred miles 
through the forest to the falls of the Ohio, gave him 
command of three frontier stations, and sent him to 
negociate treaties with the Cherokees. It was a 
fond boast with him that the first white women that 
ever stood on the banks of the Kentucky river, were 
his wife and daughter, and that his axe cleft the first 
tree whose timbers laid the foundation of a permanent 
settlement in the State ; he had the genuine ambition 
of a pioneer and the native taste for life in the woods 
embodied in the foresters of Scott and the Leather- 
stocking of Cooper. He possessed that restless 
impulse — the instinct of adventure — the poetry of 
action. It has been justly said that " he was seldom 
taken by surprise, never shrunk from danger, nor 
cowered beneath exposure and fatigue." So accurate 
were his woodland observations and memory, that he 
recognised an ash-tree which he had notched twenty 



DAXIEL BOOXE. 45 

years before, to identify a locality ; and proved the 
accuracy of his designation by stripping off the new 
bark and exposing the marks of his axe beneath. 
His aim was so certain, that he could with ease bark 
a squirrel, that is, bring down the animal, when on 
the top of the loftiest tree, by knocking off the bark 
immediately beneath, killing him by the concussion. 

The union of beauty and terror in the life of a 
pioneer, of so much natural courage and thoughtfulness 
as Boone, is one of its most significant features. We 
have followed his musing steps through the wide, 
umbrageous solitudes he loved, and marked the con- 
tentment he experienced in a log-hut, and by a camp- 
fire ; but over this attractive picture there ever im- 
pended the shadow of peril — in the form of a stealthy 
and cruel foe, the wolf, disease, and exposure to the 
elements. Enraged at the invasion of their ancient 
hunting-grounds, the Indians hovered near ; while 
asleep in the jungle, following the plough, or at his 
frugal meal, the pioneer was liable to be shot down by 
an unseen rifle, and surrounded by an ambush ; from 
the tranquil pursuits of agriculture, at any moment, 
he might be summoned to the battle-field, to rescue a 
neighbour's property or defend a solitary outpost. 
The senses become acute, the mind vigilant, and the 
tone of feeling ehivalric under such discipline. That 
life has a peculiar dignity, even in the midst of 
privation and however devoid of refined culture, which 
is entirely self-dependent both for sustainment and 



46 THE PIONEER : 

protection. It has, too, a singular freshness and 
animation the more genial from being naturally in- 
spired. Compare the spasmodic efforts at hilarity, 
the forced speech and hackneyed expression of the 
fashionable drawing-room, with the candid mirth and 
gallant spirit born of the woodland and the chase ; — 
the powerful sinews and well-braced nerves of the 
pioneer with the languid pulse of the metropolitan 
exquisite ; — and it seems as if the fountain of youth 
still bubbled up in some deep recess of the forest. 
Philosophy, too, as well as health, is attainable in the 
woods, as Shakespeare has illustrated in "As Tou 
Like It ;" and Boone by his example and habitual 
sentiments. He said to his brother, when they had 
lived for months in the yet unexplored wilds of Ken- 
tucky, " Tou see how little human nature requires. 
It is in our own hearts rather than in the things 
around us, that we are to seek felicity. A man may 
be happy in any state. It only asks a perfect re- 
signation to the will of Providence." It is remark- 
able that the two American characters which chiefly 
interested Byron, were Patrick Henry and Daniel 
Boone — the one for his gift of oratory, and the other 
for his philosophical content — both so directly spring- 
ing from the resources of nature. 

There is an affinity between man and nature which 
conventional habits keep in abeyance, but do not 
extinguish. It is manifested in the prevalent taste 
for scenery, and the favour so readily bestowed upon 



DANIEL BOONE. 47 

its graphic delineation in art or literature; but in 
addition to the poetic love of nature, as addressed to 
the sense of beauty, or that ardent curiosity to 
explore its laws and phenomena which finds ex- 
pression in natural science, there is an instinct that 
leads to a keen relish of nature in her primeval state, 
and a facility in embracing the life she offers in her 
wild and solitary haunts ; a feeling that seems to have 
survived the influences of civilization, and develops, 
when encouraged, by the inevitable law of animal in- 
stinct. It is not uncommon to meet with this 
passion for nature among those whose lives have been 
devoted to objects apparently alien to its existence ; 
sportsmen, pedestrians, and citizens of rural propen- 
sities, indicate its modified action, while it is more 
emphatically exhibited by the volunteers who join in 
caravans to the Rocky Mountains, the deserts of the 
East, and the forests of Central and South America, 
with no ostensible purpose but the gratification 
arising from intimate contact with nature in her 
luxuriant or barren solitudes. 

To one having but an inkling of this sympathy, with 
a nervous organization and an observant mind, there 
is, indeed, no restorative of the frame or sweet diver- 
sion to the mind like a day in the woods. The effect 
of roaming a treeless plain or riding over a cultivated 
region is entirely different. There is a certain tran- 
quillity and balm in the forest that heals and calms the 
fevered spirit and quickens the languid pulses of the 



48 THE PIOXEER : 

wear j and the disheartened with the breath of hope. 
Its influence on the animal spirits is remarkable ; and 
the senses, released from the din and monotonous limits 
of streets and houses, luxuriate in the breadth of vision 
and the rich variety of form, hue and odour which only- 
scenes like these afford. As you walk in the shadow 
of lofty trees, the repose and awe of hearts that breathe 
from a sacred temple, gradually lulls the tide of care 
and exalts despondency into worship. As your eye 
tracks the nickering light glancing upon the herbage, 
it brightens to recognize the wild-flowers that are as- 
sociated with the innocent enjoyments of childhood ; 
to note the delicate blossom of the wild hyacinth, see 
the purple asters wave in the breeze, and the scarlet 
berries of the winter-green glow among the dead leaves, 
or mark the circling flight of the startled crow and the 
sudden leap of the squirrel. 

You pause unconsciously to feel the springy velvet 
of the moss-clump, pluck up the bulb of the broad- 
leaved sanguinaria, or examine the star-like flower 
of the liverwort, and then lifting your gaze to the 
canopy, beneath which you lovingly stroll, greet as old 
and endeared acquaintances the noble trees in their 
autumn splendour, — the crimson dogwood, yellow 
hickory or scarlet maple, whose brilliant hues mingle 
and glow in the sunshine like the stained windows 
of an old gothic cathedral ; and you feel that it is as 
true to fact as to poetry that " the groves were G-od's 
first temples." Every fern at your feet is as daintily 



DANIEL BOONE. 49 

carved as the frieze of a Grecian column ; every vista 
down which you look, wears more than Egyptian 
solemnity; the withered leaves rustle like the sighs 
of penitents, and the lofty tree-tops send forth a 
voice like that of prayer. Fresh vines encumber aged 
trunks, solitary leaves quiver slowly to the earth, a 
twilight hue chastens the brightness of noon, and, 
all around, is the charm of a mysterious quietude 
and seclusion that induces a dreamy and reverential 
mood ; while health seems wafted from the balsamic 
pine and the elastic turf, and over all broods the 
serene blue firmament. 

If such refreshment and inspiration are obtainable 
from a casual and temporary visit to the woods, we may 
imagine the effect of a lengthened sojourn in the 
primeval forest, upon a nature alive to its beauty, 
wildness and solitude ; and when we add to these, the 
zest of adventure, the pride of discovery, and that feel- 
ing of sublimity, which arises from a consciousness of 
danger always impending, it is easy to realize in the 
experience of a pioneer at once the most romantic and 
practical elements of life. In American history, rich 
as it is in this species of adventure, no individual is so 
attractive and prominent as Daniel Boone. The sin- 
gular union in his character of benevolence and hardi- 
hood, bold activity and a meditative disposition, the 
hazardous enterprises and narrow escapes recorded of 
him, and the resolute tact he displayed in all emergen- 
cies, are materials quite adequate to a thrilling narra- 

E 



50 THE PIONEER. 

tive; but when we add to the external phases of 
interest, that absolute passion for forest life which 
distinguished him, and the identity of his name with 
the early fortunes of the West, he seems to combine 
the essential features of a genuine historical and 
thoroughly individual character. 



THE LANDSCAPE PAINTEE 
JOHN CONSTABLE. 



The quiet and isolated life of a genuine landscape- 
painter has seldom been more consistently illustrated 
than in the memoirs of John Constable. His letters, 
collected and arranged by his friend Leslie, open to 
our view an existence ideal in spirit, and the more 
remarkable from the absolute contrast it affords to 
the frivolous, versatile and bustling social atmosphere 
in which it was chiefly passed. Indeed it may be said 
to embody, the most natural and characteristic phase 
of English life — the rural sentiment, if we may so call 
it— for to Constable this was the inspiration and the 
central light of experience. He first rises to the 
imagination as "the handsome miller" of a highly- 
cultivated and picturesque district in Suffolk ; and, 
since Tennyson's charming poem of the " Miller's 
Daughter," a romantic association easily attaches 
itself to that location. To the young artist, however, 
it was actually a better initiation to his future pursuit 



52 THE LANDSCAPE PAINTER : 

than might readily be supposed. Two phases of 
nature, or rather the aspects of two of her least 
appreciated phenomena, were richly unfolded to his 
observant eye — the wind and sky — and to his early 
and habitual study of these may be ascribed the 
singular truthfulness of his delineation, and the loyal 
manner in which he adhered, through life, to the facts 
of scenery. 

It seems to us that the process by which he 
arrived at what may be called the original elements 
of his art, is identic with -that of Wordsworth in 
poetry ; and his admiration of the bard arose not 
more from just perception than from the posses- 
sion of a like idiosyncrasy. They resemble each 
other in discovering beauty and interest in the 
humblest and most familiar objects ; and in an un- 
swerving faith in the essential charm of nature under 
every guise. Thus the very names of Constable's 
best pictures evince a bold simplicity of taste akin to 
that which at first brought ridicule and afterwards 
homage to the venerated poet. A mill with its usual 
natural accessories continued a favourite subject with 
the painter to the last ; and he sorely grieved when a 
fire destroyed the first specimen that his pencil im- 
mortalized. A harvest field, a village church, a ford, 
a pier, a heath, a wain — scenes exhibited to his eye in 
boyhood, and to the daily vision of farmers, sports- 
men, and country-gentlemen — were those to which 
his sympathies habitually clung. No compliment 



JOHN CONSTABLE. 53 

seems ever to have delighted him more than the 
remark of a stranger, in the Suffolk coach, " This is 
Constable's county." His custom was to pass weeks in 
the fields, and sketch clouds, trees, uplands — whatever 
object or scene could be rendered picturesque on can- 
vass ; to gather herbs, mosses, coloured earth, feathers, 
and lichens, and imitate their hues exactly. So intent 
was he at times in sketching, that field mice would 
creep unalarmed into his pockets. But perhaps the 
natural beauties that most strongly attracted him 
were evanescent ; — the sweep of a cloud, the gather- 
ing of a tempest, the effect of wind on cornfields, 
woods and streams, and, above all, the play of light 
and shade. So truly were these depicted, that Euseli 
declared he often was disposed to call for his coat and 
umbrella before one of Constable's landscapes repre- 
senting a transition state of the elements. 

If there be a single genuine poetic instinct in the 
English mind, it is that which allies them to country- 
life. The poets of this nation have never been 
excelled either in rural description or in conveying the 
sentiment to which such tastes gave birth. "What we 
recognize in Constable is the artistic development of 
this national trait. We perceive at a glance that he 
was " native here and to the manner born." There 
is an utter absence of exaggeration — at least in the 
still-life of his pictures — while no one can mistake the 
latitude of his atmospheres. They are not American, 
nor European, but thoroughly English. A great 



54 THE LANDSCAPE PAINTER : 

source of his aptitude was a remarkable local attach- 
ment. He not only saw distinctly the minute 
features of a limited scene or a characteristic group 
of objects, but he loved them. He had the fondness 
for certain rural spots which Lamb confessed for 
particular metropolitan haunts; and, therefore, it 
was not necessary for him, in order to paint with 
feeling, to combine scattered beauties, as is the case 
with less individual limners, nor to borrow or invent 
accessories to set off his chosen subject — but only to 
elicit, by patient attention, such favourable moments 
and incidents as were best fitted to exhibit it to 
advantage. 

In this way, few painters have done more to sug- 
gest the infinite natural resources of their art. Its 
poetry to him was twofold — consisting of the associa- 
tions and of the intrinsic beauty of the scene. There 
is often evident in genius a kind of sublime common 
sense — an intuitive intelligence which careless ob- 
servers mistake sometimes for obstinacy or wayward- 
ness. Constable displayed it in fidelity to his sphere, 
notwithstanding many temptations to wander from 
it. He felt that portrait and historical painting were 
not akin either to his taste or highest ability : and 
that the ambitious and elaborate in landscape would 
give no scope to his talent ; in his view Art was not 
less a thing of feeling than of knowledge ; and it was a 
certain indescribable sentiment in the skies of Claude 
and the composition of Euysdael that endeared them 



JOHX CONSTABLE. 55 

to him more than mere fidelity to detail. Accordingly 
he laboured with zest only upon subjects voluntarily 
undertaken, and to which he felt drawn by a spon- 
taneous attraction ; and over these he rarely failed to 
throw the grace of a fresh and vivid conception. The 
word "handling" was his aversion, because he saw no 
evidence of it in nature, and looked upon her loving 
delineator as working not in a mechanical but in a 
sympathetic relation. " There is room enough," he 
says, " for a natural painter. The great vice of the 
present day is bravura — an attempt to do something 
beyond the truth." Harvest-men were to him more 
charming than peers ; and the rustle of foliage 
sweeter than the hum of conversaziones. 

In the foreground of a picture of a cathedral, des- 
cribed by Leslie, "he introduced a circumstance 
familiar to all who are in the habit of noticing cattle. 
With cows there is generally, if not always, one which 
is called, not very accurately, the master cow, and there 
is scarcely anything the rest of the herd will venture 
to do until the master has taken the lead. On the left 
of the picture this individual is drinking, and turns 
with surprise and jealousy to another cow approaching 
the canal lower down for the same purpose ; they are of 
the Suffolk breed, without horns ; and it is a curious 
mark of Constable's fondness for everything connected 
with his native county, that scarcely an instance can 
be found of a cow in any of his pictures, be the scene 
where it may, with horns." "Still life," says his 



56 THE LANDSCAPE PAINTER : 

friend Fisher, on the receipt of one of his pictures, " is 
always dull, as there are no associations with it ; this 
is so deliriously fresh, that I could not resist it." 
These epithets reveal the secret of Constable's effects. 
What truly interests us, derives, from the very enthu- 
siasm with which it is regarded, a vital charm, which 
gives relish and impressiveness even to description in 
words, and far more so in lines and colours. The 
"cool tint of English daylight" refreshes the eye in 
his best attempts ; " bright, not gaudy, but deep and 
clear." It is curious ^that the term " healthy " has 
been applied to Constable's colouring — the very idea 
we instinctively associate with the real landscape of 
his country. 

A newspaper, describing an exhibition of the Royal 
Academy, thus speaks of one of his pictures, and it 
gives, as far as words can, a just notion of his style of 
Art : "A scene without any prominent features of the 
grand and beautiful, but with a rich broken foreground 
sweetly pencilled, and a very pleasing and natural tone 
of colour throughout the wild, green distance." The 
inimitable Jack Bannister said of another, that " from 
it he could feel the wind blowing on his face." Con- 
stable was delighted with the pertinacity of a little boy 
who, in repeating his catechism, would not say other- 
wise than — " and walk in the same fields all the days of 
my life," he declared " our ideas of happiness are the 
same." He also recorded his earnest assent to the 
remark of a friend, that " the whole object and diffi- 



JOHN CONSTABLE. 57 

culty of the Art is to unite imagination with nature" In 
one of his letters, he says : " I can hardly write for 
looking at the silvery clouds." Speaking of one of 
his own landscapes, he indulges in a remark, the com- 
placency of which may be readily forgiven—" I have 
preserved Grod Almighty's daylight, which is enjoyed 
by all mankind, excepting only the lovers of old dirty 
canvas, perished pictures at a thousand guineas each, 
cart-grease, tar, and snuff of candle." 

It is thus obvious that he pursued his Art in a 
spirit of independence, and with a manly directness of 
purpose, which neither fashion nor interest for an 
instant modified. The sentiment which impelled him 
was the love of nature, and this, like the other love 
referred to by Shakespere, " lends a precious seeing to 
the eye." It was not a vague emotion, but a definite 
attachment ; and he possessed the rare moral courage 
to act it out. This, the biography of artists convinces 
us is true wisdom. It would have been only the folly 
of a perverse ambition for Constable to have emulated 
the old Italian masters and produced saints. Ma- 
donnas, and martyrs. The scenery of his native 
country was not more familiar to his eye than 
endeared to his heart ; and so attentively and fondly 
had he explored it, that he used to declare he never 
saw an ugly thing, whose intrinsic homeliness was 
not relieved by some effect of light, shade or per- 
spective. His delight in nature was, indeed, in- 
exhaustible. He has been quaintly said to have 



58 THE LANDSCAPE PAINTER : 

known the language of a windmill ; and the most 
common forms of architecture — the most familiar 
toils of the husbandman — and the ordinary habits of 
animals, wore significance to his eye, because of the 
vast and intimate beauty amid which they are visible, 
and with which they are associated. Simplicity was 
his great characteristic, giving birth to that truth to 
himself which involves and secures truth to nature, 
both in art and in literature. His taste was per- 
manently opposed to the factitious and the con- 
ventional, and never swerved in its allegiance to the 
primal and enduring. 

Landscape-painting, in its best significance, is a 
representation not only of the form and aspects but 
of the sentiment of nature. If we regard it in its 
broad relations, it may be said to have a scientific and 
national value as the authentic image of the features 
of the universe, modified by climate, vegetation, and 
history — eminently illustrative to the naturalist and 
the statesman. There are few departments of Art 
more suggestive. The camel group and palm-tree of 
Eastern scenery — the snowy peaks of Alpine 
mountains — the luxuriant foliage of the tropics— and 
the ruined arch, shrine, and aloe of Southern Europe, 
each, in turn, convey to the mind of the spectator 
hints that imagination easily expands into entire 
countries. To the patriotic sympathies its appeal is 
inevitable ; and the portfolios of travellers often 
contain the most satisfactory memorials of their pil- 



JOHN CONSTABLE. 5% 

grimage. Few, except artists, however, realize the 
variety of meaning and the characteristic in scenery ; 
and the number who recognize the minor and shifting 
language of the external world, is still more limited. 
Yet even the insensible and unobservant during a 
voyage, and when confined to a particular spot and 
isolated from society, will sometimes note attentively 
many successive sunsets, or the effect of the seasons 
upon a familiar prospect, and thus gradually awaken 
to that world of vision through which, when more 
pre-occupied, they move almost unconscious of its 
ever-changing expression. 

The eloquent work of Ruskin on the modern painters, 
whether its theories are accepted or not, ably unfolds 
the extent of interest derivable from this subject ; but 
there is one common instinct to the gratification of 
which it ministers more than any branch of Art — 
that of local association. A good picture of a birth- 
place, the scene of early life, of historical incident or 
poetical association, is invaluable ; and this feeling has 
been greatly deepened by the transition of the Art 
from graphic imitation to a picturesque reflection of 
the sentiment of a landscape. Herein lies its poetry. 
It is this soulful beauty that gives an undying charm 
to the sunsets of Claude : and has created an epoch in 
Art by the glorious effects of Turner. Indeed the 
ideality of the English mind has nowhere asserted 
itself more successfully than in her school of modern 
landscape. Morland and Gainsborough set an ex- 



60 THE LANDSCAPE PAINTER. 

ample of truth and feeling which has been carried 
onward by such painters as "Wilson and Constable. 
G-enuine simplicity — that manly Anglo-Saxon freedom 
from extravagance and repose upon nature, in such 
works is as clearly revealed as in the nobler literature 
and wholesome habits of the nation. 

There is a beautiful harmony between the character 
and pursuit of Constable. His time was given only 
to art and domestic life — the routine of which knew 
no variation, except an occasional visit to Sir G-eorge 
Beaumont or Fisher. His capacity to inspire lasting 
attachment — a quality which seems to be the birth- 
right of genius — is delightfully apparent in his 
correspondence with the latter friend. " Dear Con- 
stable" — he writes, when the artist was in trouble — 
" you want a staff just now ; lean hard on me." The 
integrity of true affection is also manifest in his inter- 
course with the object of his early and latest love. 
The patience, self-respect, and gentleness with which 
they endured the long and unreasonable opposition 
to their marriage — the unfailing comfort imparted by 
their mutual regard, the blending of good sense, 
principle and sentiment in their relation to each other 
from first to last — are results only obtainable where 
generous, affectionate, and intelligent natures coalesce. 
The painter's love of children, humorous mention of 
his cat, constant kindness to a poor organist and 
unfortunate paint-grinder — his longings for home 
when absent — his delight there in the intervals of 



JOHN CONSTABLE. 61 

his toil — his charities, friendliness, and geniality, 
accord with the sweetness of his taste. 

"Whenever I find a man," says Milton, " despising 
the false estimates of the vulgar, and daring to aspire 
in sentiment, language, and conduct, to what the 
highest wisdom in every age has taught us as most 
excellent, to him I unite myself by a sort of necessary 
attachment." By such a process Constable mainly 
rose in Art, and kept the even tenor of his life. The 
appreciation of his artistic merits was very slow, as is 
obvious from the number of pictures in his studio at 
the time of his decease. Contemporary artists criti- 
cised oftener than they commended him. His ideas 
of his Art, as expressed in conversation and in his 
lectures, were " caviare to the general." His election 
as an Academician was a deserved honour, but some- 
what grudgingly bestowed. His finances were often 
at the lowest ebb — his domestic cares unceasing : 
illness frequently weighed down his spirits, and 
bereavements caused his heart to bleed again and 
again, especially when his wife followed his parents 
to the land of shadows. But, through all, he lived in 
his affections and his art, with rare fidelity and 
singleness of heart ; and his friends, and the memory 
of the beauty of his pictures, will long reflect his 
genial, serene, and consistent nature. 



THE FINANCIER 
JAMBS LAFITTE. 



I>~ the majority of cases large fortunes are gained 
and preserved through careful attention to details — a 
habit which is supposed to militate with compre- 
hensive views and liberal sympathies. It is, therefore, 
common to regard the acquisition of money and eleva- 
tion of taste and character as essentially incompatible ; 
and this consideration gives peculiar interest and value 
to the few noble exceptions to a general rule which re- 
veal the sagacious financier as a patriot and philosopher. 
Prejudice, and the narrow ideas usually cherished by 
the devotees of trade, have caused the whole subject of 
money — its acquisition, preservation and use, to be 
consigned to the domain of necessary evils or the study 
of the political economist : it is, however, an interest 
too vital and too inextricably woven into all the rela- 
tions of modern society, not to have claims upon the 
most reflective minds, independent of all personal con- 
siderations. 

The actual theory of an individual in regard to 



THE FINANCIER. 63 

money is no ordinary test of character ; the degrees 
of his estimation of it as a means or an end, and as a 
source of obligation and responsibility, is graduated by 
the very elements of his nature and, is a significant in- 
dication of his tone of mind and range of feeling. In 
its larger relations — those of a national kind — history 
proves that finance is a vast political engine intimately 
connected with the freedom, growth and civil welfare 
as well as external prosperity of a country. The 
traveller far removed from his native land, at a period 
of great financial distress, is made to realize the im- 
portance of credit, its moral as well as pecuniary basis, 
when he hears the character and means of all the 
prominent bankers in the world freely canvassed in 
some obscure nook of the earth, only connected perhaps 
with the civilized world by this very recognition of 
pecuniary obligation. 

It is at such crises, bringing home to his own con- 
sciousness the vast and complicated relations of money 
to civilized life, that the individual becomes aware of 
the extensive social utility of those principles of 
financial science to which perhaps, in less hazardous 
exigencies, he has given but listless attention. The 
same broad views of the subject are forced upon a 
nation's mind in the junctures of political existence, 
and all great revolutions alternate from the battle- 
field and the cabinet to the treasury — the state of 
public and private credit being, as it were, a scale 
that truly suggests the condition of the body politic — 
like the pulse of a nation's life. Besides its attraction 



64 THE FINANCIER ! 

as a study of character, therefore, the life of one of the 
most illustrious of modern financiers, possesses great 
incidental interest ; and its unadorned facts yield the 
most impressive illustration of the relation of money 
to society and government. 

The vicinity of the Pyrenees and the Bay of Biscay 
renders Bayonne a favourable site both for inland 
and foreign trade ; and her commerce with Spain on 
the one side and her lucrative fisheries on the other, 
as well as the large amount of ship timber annually 
exported to Brest and other parts of France, amply 
vindicate her claim to commercial privileges which are 
still farther secured by the enterprise of the Gascon 
character. That it is an excellent mercantile school is 
evident from the proverbial success of her inhabitants 
elsewhere. 

It was from this old city that a youth of twenty, 
breaking away from his mother's tearful embrace, 
one night in the year 1787, departed for Paris, 
with no guarantee of a prosperous experience except 
that derived from an ingenuous disposition, enthu- 
siasm, ready intelligence and great natural cheerful- 
ness. He became a clerk to the banker M. Peregaux ; 
and soon after, by his own obvious merit, book-keeper, 
then cashier, and finally the exclusive director and 
indispensable man of business of the establishment. 
Such was the origin of James Lafitte's career. The 
qualities which thus advanced him in private life soon 
inspired public confidence and gradually led to his 
honourable and progressive activity in the national 



JAMES LAFITTE. 65 

councils. Financial ability of a high order, combined 
with noble traits of character, thus identified him with 
the best interests of his country, and enrolled his name 
among her most efficient and illustrious citizens. One 
of ten children, his first object was to provide for his 
family, which he did with characteristic generosity. In 
1809 the son of the poor carpenter of Bayonne was 
the president of the Chamber of Commerce, regent of 
the Bank, and master of a princely fortune. Thence- 
forth we trace his agency, more or less distinctly, in 
the wonderful series of events that succeeded the first 
revolution ; now providing funds for a royal exile, now 
coming to the rescue of a bankrupt nation, and again 
lying wounded on his sofa, advising, ordering, and 
invoking the chief actors in the events of the three 
days in July, — his court-yard a barrack and his saloon 
an impromtu cabinet, where a provisional goverment 
was organised and Louis Philippe proclaimed. 

It was standing between Lafitte and Lafayette that 
the new king first ventured to show himself to the 
people. For many years the patriot-broker was the 
centre of a gifted society, the arbiter of pecuniary 
affairs, the coadjutor of monarchs and men of genius, 
of the working classes and political leaders. Sur- 
rounded by luxury, he never became indolent ; with 
absorbing duties, he atoned by study for a neglected 
education ; the possessor of immense wealth, he never 
forgot the responsibility it involved ; a zealous partisan, 
and of so conciliatory a temper as to have the reputa- 

F 



66 THE FINANCIER : 

tion of caprice in opinion, he preserved unbroken a 
moral consistency that won universal respect. 

To this special insight of a financier, Lafitte added 
genuine public spirit ; he fully realized the social 
claims incident to his wealth and financial knowledge ; 
and accordingly never hesitated to sacrifice personal 
interest to the general welfare whenever circumstances 
rendered it wise and benevolent so to act. When 
governor of the Bank of Prance, he relinquished his 
salary of a hundred thousand francs in its favour on 
account of the poverty of the institution ; in 1814, 
when the directors assembled, after the entrance of the 
foe into Paris, to raise funds, he proposed a national 
subscription and munificently headed the list. "When 
the Allies were at the gates of the city, he steadily 
refused to endanger the credit of the bank by a forced 
loan : and to avert the horrors of civil war, placed two 
millions of his own property in the hands of the 
^Minister of Pinance. After the events of those three 
davs, he resigned his coffers to the provisional govern- 
ment : his hotel was the rendezvous of the chief actors, 
his party installed Lafayette at the head of the troops, 
and it was he that sent word to the Duke of Orleans 
to choose between a crown and a passport, and subse- 
quently caused him to be proclaimed. 

Thus Lafitte thrice gave a safe direction to the chaotic- 
elements of revolution, and came bravely and success- 
fully to the rescue of his country in great emergencies. 
Nor was his action in behalf of individuals less noble and 



JAMES LAFITTE. 67 

prompt. When Louis XVIII, was exiled, he sent the 
royal fugitives four millions of francs ; when the Duke 
of Orleans offered large though doubtful securities to 
various commercial houses in vain, Lafitte accepted 
them at par value, uncertain as they were. "When 
Napoleon departed for St. Helena, Lafitte became the 
repository of the remainder of his fortune; when 
General Poy experienced a reverse of fortune and im- 
prudently sought relief in stock speculations, the gene- 
rous banker confidentially arranged with his broker to 
enrich the brave and proud officer, and when he died, 
subscribed a hundred thousand francs for the benefit of 
his family. These are but casual instances of his 
private liberality. It was a habit as well as principle 
with him to afford pecuniary relief whenever and where - 
ever real misfortune existed, to cherish by the same 
means industry, letters, art, and benevolent institu- 
tions, with a judgment and delicacy that infinitely 
endeared his gifts. It is not surprising that both 
people and rulers were, at times, impelled by grateful 
sympathy to recognise the noble spirit of such a 
financier ; — that the Emperor Alexander placed a guard 
at his door when his liberty was threatened by the 
invaders ; — that Napoleon expressed his confidence by 
saying, as he left the remnant of his fortune in his 
hands, " I know you did not like my government, but 
I know you are an honest man;" and that France 
herself, when his own fortune was wrecked by his 
devotion to the bank and the country — was moved at 



68 THE FINANCIER: 

the remembrance of his sacrifices, would not permit 
the first asylum of the revolution to be sold, and by a 
national subscription redeemed it for Lafitte. 

It is however to be regretted that he ever inter- 
ested himself actively in politics, except as they were 
directly related to his peculiar sphere. "When called 
upon to bring financial means to the aid of government 
or people in her exigencies of civil life, we have seen 
his exemplary wisdom, integrity, and generous spirit ; 
when he addressed the Chambers upon any question of 
debt, credit, loans, or currency, his superior intelli- 
gence and practical genius at once won respectful 
attention ; his lucid and able reports, while governor 
of the bank, indicate his accurate knowledge of the 
principles of public credit ; the remarkable speeches 
in which he revealed a project for resuscitating the 
nation's treasury, — the originality of his ideas, his 
colloquial eloquence, and the manner in which he made 
a dry subject, and even figures themselves interesting 
and comprehensive — amprv prove his remarkable adapt- 
ation to the domain of social economy and political 
action he illustrated. Appointed by the King in 1816 
as one of the Committee of Finance, with the Duke of 
Richelieu at its head, he contested the system of forced 
loans as identical with bankruptcy. In 1836 he de- 
manded the reimbursements of the five per cents. 
His theory was founded essentially on the conviction 
that the way to diminish the burdens of the people is 
to diminish the expenses of the State. 



JAMES LAF1TTE. 69 

Had Lafitte thus strictly confined himself to the 
subject of which he was master, it is probable he would 
have escaped, in a great degree, the blind prejudice of 
his opponents. As it was, however, his career as a 
deputy to the view of an impartial spectator, reflects 
honour upon his character. Here, as in private life, 
he was eminently distinguished by moral courage. 
On one occasion he boldly proposed the impeachment 
of ministers ; during the hundred days he was one of 
the intrepid minority that sought to preserve France 
from a second invasion; in opposing the system of 
forced loans his noble hardihood induced the King to 
invest him with the legion of honour: "I have," he 
said to the Duke of Richelieu, his most formidable 
antagonist on this occasion, " bound myself to speak 
my mind; if the plan I propose is salutary, it is for 
the king to decide whether he will sacrifice the Cham- 
bers to France and the country to the Chambers." 

On the celebrated 28th of July, accompanied by his 
friends, he traversed the scene of hostilities to the 
Carousel — the quarters of Marshal Marmout, and 
adjured him to put a stop to the carnage ; " military 
honour," said the commander of Paris, consists in 
obedience ; "civil honour," replied the brave deputy, 
"consists in not slaughtering the citizens to destroy 
the Constitution." At the funeral of Manuel he 
arrested with his eloquence the outbreak between the 
military and the people. He was in the front rank of 
the defenders of the charter, the staunch advocate of 



70 THE FINANCIER; 

the freedom of the press ; and when he saw the revolu- 
tion of July approaching, effectually and at great 
personal risk, strove to make it as useful and bloodless 
as the nature of things would permit. "My con- 
science," he said, " is without reproach. I founded, it 
is true, a new dynasty, but I found something in it 
legitimate. Posterity will judge me. I hope the 
loyalty of my intentions will find me grace in the eyes 
of history. I never deceived any one. My principles 
never changed. I believed in 1830 that France could 
only be republican through monarchy. I was wrong, 
and I repent with all my heart." For half a century 
he defended the rights of the people, and never ceased 
to preach moderation, but " a moderation compatible 
with liberty and national honour." 

In the war of opinion and the strife of party, Lafitte 
suffered the inevitable caprices of popular favour; 
even his opponents, however, considered what they 
deemed his faults, to arise from the strength of his 
affections rather than the perversion of his will : his 
official life ruined his private fortunes ; and the bitter- 
ness of his disappointment at the apparent inefficacy 
of the revolution in which he had taken so prominent 
a part may be inferred from the memorable fact that he 
ascended the tribune, and with much solemnity 
asked pardon of heaven, for having contributed to its 
success. He seems at last to have become thoroughly 
aware of the limits of his natural vocation, and ex- 
pressed himself as content when free once more from 



JAMES LAFITTE. 71 

the trammels of state, he began to retrieve his 
fortunes as a banker. 

The views of Lafitte, however, on all subjects which 
he investigated, were remarkable for sound reason and 
moderation. He was no fanatic in politics, and under- 
stood the character of his nation. Louis XVI., he 
thought, aimed at a moral impossibility in attempting 
to retain all his prerogatives, without which the eclat 
of his office would be lost, while he knew the com- 
plaints of his people to be just ; to the vacillation 
incident to this double view of the case and the 
consequent indecision of a naturally good heart, he 
ascribed his course — which abased royalty while 
making sincere concessions : he believed, too, that the 
monarch owed his downfall more to injudicious friends 
than real enemies. The Grirondists, he considered, 
tried the fatal experiment of attempting to reconcile 
people and court, and were too timid for the first and 
too advanced for the last ; he regarded the irresolution 
of Lafayette as the flaw in his excellent nature ; 
Danton, Kobespierre, and Marat, he viewed as victims 
of the fievre revolutionnaire, and r therefore, not to be 
judged in the same manner as men in a healthful 
condition. Indeed, he declared that no one could 
safely predict his own conduct under the influence of 
great political excitement. " I have," he said, " made 
the sad experiment ; it is best not to enter the 
vortex ; if you do you are borne on blindfolded." He 
always insisted that the great results of the French 



72 THE FINANCIER : 

Revolution could have been attained by less terrible 
means. He recognized fully tbe reforms of Napoleon, 
and with the acumen of a political economist, watched 
the growing prosperity of the nation ; but none the 
less lamented the decadence of freedom with the grief 
of a patriot ; he recoiled from the duplicity of the 
Emperor and grieved at the subserviency of the 
Senate. What most surprised Lafitte in Bonaparte, 
was his fortune ; and he deemed his fatal error — the 
attempt to impose on France a continental system, 
wholly incompatible with the age: in a word, he 
honoured Napoleon as a soldier, and despised him as 
a ruler. The office of the press he seems to have 
thoroughly appreciated, "fai toujour s pense" he says, 
" que la presse est dans un etat, V unique moyen de retenir 
le pouvoir dans les lornes de la moderation et de Vempecher 
de se livrer a Varbitraire." 

Although, when elected to the Chamber of Deputies, 
Lafitte immediately took his place on the benches of 
the opposition, and subsequently attained the pre- 
sidency of the cabinet, and in 1817 was the only name 
deposited in the urns of twenty sections of the elec- 
toral college by supporting the reduction of the Rents 
and the creation of the Three per Cents, he alienated 
many of his party. Indeed, such was his political 
eclecticism, that a democratic writer says " he lost his 
popularity by his monarchical affections" — alluding 
to his personal attachments to members of the royal 
family ; and a monarchist attributes it to his democratic 



JAMES LAFITTE. 73 

attachments — thus justifying the inference of his 
biographer — that he was " too much a man of heart to 
be a statesman." In the sphere of his individual 
ambition, however — in his financial opinions and 
career, as well as in the tone of his character, Lafitte 
was remarkably consistent ; — sagacious, upright, 
benevolent, and patriotic. He completely refuted the 
base charge suggested by partisan animosity — of 
having sold his vote to the minister ; and whatever 
popular favour he may have lost as the member of a 
faction, he amply regained as a man. This is evident 
from the universal sympathy awakened by his loss of 
fortune, and the confidence and gratitude with which 
the people rallied to his call when he established his 
famous Caisse d'escompte, now the memorial of his use- 
ful and honourable career. By means of this in- 
stitution, the poorest artisan has a safe and profitable 
investment for his earnings. 

In 1837, having thus settled his affairs and re-esta- 
blished his credit, he thus addressed the shareholders : 
"It is not without emotion that I find myself restored to 
these labours, and about to crown, with an undertaking 
worthy of my best efforts, a career in which I have per- 
haps done some good. I forget many past mishaps 
and all the bitterness of political life, which promised 
nothing to my ambition, and the burden of which I 
only accepted from devotion to my country. The future 
had compensation in reserve for me ; and the 2nd of 
October, 1837 — the day on which I resume my 



74 THE FINANCIER ! 

business, consoles me for the 19th of January, 1831, 
— the day on which I left it." Thus opening a 
credit to the humbler branches of industry, Lafitte 
rescued many a victim from the extortions of the 
usurer. 

The financial services of Lafitte in France vividly 
recall those of Robert Morris in America. At the com- 
mencement of the American Eevolution he was more 
extensively engaged in commerce than any of his 
fellow-citizens, and was one of the first Philadelphians 
irretrievably to commit himself in behalf of the colo- 
nies at a great pecuniary sacrifice — thus inspiring the 
same unbounded confidence in his patriotism which 
his integrity and wisdom had long before gained for 
him as a man of business. He was on every com- 
mittee of ways and means appointed by the legislature 
of his native State, and from the outbreak of hos- 
tilities, devoted all the force of his talents, the 
influence of his name, — his credit and fortune to his 
country ; and these seldom failed in the hour of need. 
When his official resources were inadequate, he 
pledged his individual credit. Like Lafitte, he was 
exposed to misrepresentation, and, like him, triumphed 
over calumny. All the requisite means for 
Washington's expedition against Cornwallis were 
furnished by him ; and his own notes to the amount 
of four hundred thousand dollars thus fearlessly given, 
were all finally paid. While invested, as he long was 
with the entire provision, control, and expenditure of 



JAMES LAFITTE. 75 

the public finances, the history of his difficulties and 
expedients would fill a volume. When the imminent 
danger that originally induced him to accept this 
responsible office had passed away, he gladly resigned. 
His resemblance to Lafitte was increased by a 
natural urbanity, vigour of action, broad views, rigid 
justice, strict method, and also by the eventual loss of 
his own fortune and the establishment of an excellent 
system of finance. He founded the Bank of America, 
the first institution of the kind in that country — upon 
principles the utility of which time has fully proved. 
In patriotic zeal and in respect of his illustrious con- 
temporaries, he also offers a parallel to the renowned 
French banker ; he was the friend of "Washington and 
justly regarded as " the soul of the financial con- 
cerns" of the nation. " No one," it has been said, 
"parted more freely with his money for public or 
private purposes of a meritorious nature." When 
Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury, no 
statistics of the country had appeared, her resources 
were only surmised, and after holding the office for 
five years, he left it at an unprecedented height of 
reputation. By these two acute and zealous patriots 
the foundation of American prosperity was laid : and 
the identity of their opinions with those of Lafitte is 
remarkable. "The whole business of finance," they 
thought, " was comprised in two short but compre- 
hensive sentences. It is to raise the public revenue 
by such modes as may be most easy and most equal to 



76 THE FINANCIER J 

the people, and to expend it in the most frugal, fair, 
and honest manner." 

The personal tastes of James Lafitte were cha- 
racterized by the same moderate tone. He loved 
elegance, and surrounded himself with all those 
brilliant resources that wealth so abundantly supplies 
in the French metropolis ; but they did not enervate 
or bewilder his mind ; he continued his daily toil with 
unremitted zeal; casting aside, however, with the 
greatest facility the severe concentration of the finan- 
cier, to mingle, with the abandon of the joyous south, 
at his own splendid fetes, with the brave, the wise, and 
the lovely. Even his literary predilections were 
characteristic ; he ignored the romantic and loved the 
classic writers of his country, while the bonhommie and 
patriotism of Beranger made him a favourite guest at 
his reunions, and he knew Moliere by heart. His 
first discourse as deputy made a great impression, both 
on account of its style and ideas. It is curious that 
the sensation, if we may so call it, of wealth, is so in- 
dependent of its possession. Lafitte declared that he 
never felt himself rich except when his appointments, 
under Perregaux, reached the sum of three thousand 
francs ; —an indirect but striking proof of his con- 
sciousness of the relations to society incident to 
fortune. His credulous faith in the integrity of othera 
presents a striking contrast to his sagacious insight as 
regards affairs. When the Duke of Orleans said to 
him, " "What shall I do for you when I am king ?" 



JAMES LAFITTE. 77 

his reply was — " Make me your fool that I may tell 
you the truth ;" yet he entertained such implicit con- 
fidence in the promises of the royal candidate, that he 
received his embrace upon his accession, with fraternal 
trust. Calm, serene, industrious as a financier, gene- 
rous and honest as a man, gay and kindly as a com- 
panion, after forty years of riches and honour Lafitte 
found himself poor and unpopular, and perhaps no 
portion of his career is more suggestive of energy of 
character and elasticity of temper than the last epoch 
wherein he retrieved both his fortune and his glory. 

The power of money, thus illustrated, as a means of 
political and social influence, is not less obvious in 
ordinary experience. Recall the scene of morbid ex- 
citement and its infinite probable consequences, which 
a single midnight hour offers at Erascati's, — " the 
hard-eyed lender and the pale lendee," visible on the 
Exchange ; — the serene unity of life achieved by the 
plilosopher satisfied with the freedom from care inci- 
dent to a mere competency when attended by intellec- 
tual resources ; — the "weary hours" of the millionaire ; 
— the exalted aspect of human nature in the person of 
the man of fortune, whose means are rendered abso- 
lutely subservient to taste and philanthropy; — the 
comfort of households upheld by honest industry ; — 
the sublime results of genius when exempted from 
want and the baffled spirit of the persecuted debtor ; 
the absorption of time, intellect, and feeling in sordid 
pursuits ; let the imagination follow to their ultimate 



78 THE FINANCIER : 

issues the various incidental fruits of these several 
conditions upon the individual and society, and we 
have a glimpse of the vast agencies involved in the use 
and abuse of money. 

From the Bureaux du Monte de Piete to the halls of 
a National Bank, from the luxurious saloon to the 
squalid hovel, from the dashing spendthrift to the 
wretched miser — through all the diagnoses of usury and 
beneficence, we can trace the fluctuations of human 
passions and the assertion of human character in their 
most vital development. Accordingly it is impossible 
to over-estimate the value of wisdom, integrity, and 
kindness in pecuniary affairs : a high example in this 
regard is of boundless practical worth ; and there is no 
social interest so universal and significant as that which 
relates to the acquisition, distribution, and maintenance 
of wealth : the morals and science of nuance, rightly 
understood, embrace the principals of all ethics. 

The " unfortunate compliances " which marred the 
unity of his political life ;— the indifference that settles 
on the public mind in regard to a fallen minister ; — 
the bitterness of partisan hostility and the capricious 
alienation of popular favour — were all forgotten in 
tearful and affectionate memories, when on the night 
of the 26th of May, 1843, it was announced, in Paris, 
that Lafitte was no more. He died as he had lived, 
amid noble and generous thoughts, affectionate minis- 
trations, calm resolutions, and holy sentiments. The 
immense procession that followed to Pere la Chaise and 



JAMES LAFITTE. 79 

the sad group of brilliant statesmen, authors, and 
military officers, of poor and grateful recipients of his 
bounty, of loyal citizens and intimate friends, that saw 
his remains deposited in the tomb prepared for them 
between those of Foy and Manuel, evidenced the ulti- 
mate appreciation of his character, which became more 
eloquently manifest in the tributes which Arago and 
the leading public men of the day spontaneously offered 
to his memory. 



THE YOUTHFUL HEBO: 

THEODOEE KOENEE. 



On the high road near the village of Wobbelin there 
stands, beneath an oak tree, the Iron Monument of 
Theodore Korner. The material of which it is con- 
structed, the simplicity of its design, the tree which 
overshadows it and its isolated yet accessible position, 
would naturally induce au observant traveller to examine 
and a contemplative one to muse beside it ; but how 
infinitely is the casual interest thus awakened, enhanced 
when we recall the brief but thrilling history of him 
in whose remembrance it was erected; and realize 
how entirely the lineaments of his character accord 
with the solemn beauty of his grave ! There is often 
as much room for conjecture in regard to the absolute 
endowments of the hero as of the poet : the fame of 
both is only settled by time ; posterity not unfre- 
quently reverses the original decree; and the frank 
soldier and candid bard sometimes dispel the charm- 
ing illusions they have originated, by admitting 



THEODORE KORXER. 81 

certain facts of consciousness : thus courage and 
inspiration are as fallacious when judged by mere 
appearance, as mock superficial qualities; accident, 
luck, animal excitement, vanity and desperation may 
be the only claim of the so-called hero to the title ; 
and imitation, art and tact form the sole attributes of 
him whom the world of to-day denominate a poet. It 
is rare, indeed, for these noblest of human distinctions 
to be thoroughly vindicated by the same individual 
during his life ; — for genuine poetic gifts to be illus- 
trated by their sensible effects upon the popular mind, 
and genuine heroism to be indicated clearly in the 
expressed purpose, the thoughtful resolve and then 
realized by entire self-devotion and voluntary martyr- 
dom. Such a course seems to include all the elements 
of the heroic character and leave not the faint shadow 
of a doubt of a grand moral reality. 

There is a courage of temperament which man shares 
with the inferior animals — that which leads the stag to 
stand at bay, the steed to rush into battle, and the 
mastiff and game-cock to lose the sense of safety in the 
vindictiveness of a contest : there is a courage of the 
imagination born of vision of glory, the zest of 
adventure and the love of excitement ; and there is 
a courage of the will — the calm resolve of valour in- 
spired by patriotism or duty, and thoughtfully adopted 
after mature reflection. In proportion to the danger 
incurred, the personal advantage relinquished, and the 
consistency of its aim, is this latter species of courage 



82 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

to be estimated. It is this which essentially con- 
stitutes the hero ; it is an element of character, not an 
impulse of feeling ; it is the product of the soul, not of 
mere physical superiority ; and exalts humanity by 
intensifying her active powers with the concentration 
of intelligent moral purpose. 

Theodore Korner thus more completely realized this 
ideal of the youthful hero than any character of 
modern times ; or rather left behind him the most 
authentic evidence and beautiful memorials of its 
reality : for without reference to the mere facts of his 
life, we have the two most impressive revelations of 
his nature — the written thought and the noble deed, 
the sentiment calmly yet earnestly expressed and its 
practical embodiment : the motive and the deed to 
attest the hero, — feeling shaping itself into deliberate 
action ; we have successively the man, the poet, the 
soldier and the martyr ; and it is this unity of develop- 
ment that renders Korner' s career almost unique. 
That the views he adopted were not the offspring of a 
heated imagination, — that the sentiments he professed 
arose from a deeper source than the hot blood of 
youth, that he was perfectly conscious of all he risked, 
and quite aware of the sacrifice he offered, is apparent 
from his literary productions, his conversation, letters, 
and consistent behaviour. His education was singu- 
larly adapted to develope, at once, mental energy and 
the gentlest affections ; it encouraged physical strength 
and aptitude and the highest moral aspiration ; and 



THEODORE KORNER. 83 

hence he was capable of estimating for himself both the 
claims of duty and the claims of pleasure. The very 
atmosphere of his childhood was intellectual ; his 
father, although ostensibly devoted to jurisprudence, 
was a man of the warmest literary sympathies and the 
highest culture ; — while his mother was the daughter 
of an artist ; Schiller and Groethe were their intimate 
friends; the former wrote Don Carlos in the elder 
Korner's house ; and not the least pleasing chapters 
in the lives of both authors are those which record 
anecdotes of this early intercourse and the cor- 
respondence to which it led. 

Young Korner's first recollections are associated 
with this cottage in a vineyard — endeared to the 
three illustrious friends. Korner's infancy was feeble, 
and he was, therefore, encouraged to practice manly 
exercises, in which he soon became an adept, having 
few equals, among his companions, in fencing and 
swimming; he was a most graceful equestrian and 
dancer, and excelled in gymnastic feats. To this 
admirable physical training so essential to the martial 
hero, were added the accomplishments of musician 
and draughtsman. This early instruction was derived 
altogether from private tuition ; habitual exposure 
to the open air, and the influence of nature as 
well as the highest social intercourse, combined 
to invigorate and refine the capabilities of the 
soul. But judicious and comprehensive as was his 
education, it only accounts in part for the nobler 
bias of his character. He very soon manifested 



84 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

the most decided tastes and aims, and the instinctive, 
far more than the acquired, moulded his destiny : 
strength of mind and firmness of purpose, tender- 
ness of heart and loyal attachments, soon gave 
promise of a characteristic life ; while an appreciation 
of science and a facility of versification were equally 
obvious mental distinctions, the one giving vent to his 
enthusiasm and sentiment, and the other discipline 
and scope to his intellect. 

Doubtless this need of an active life on the one 
hand and mental exercise on the other, induced 
his first choice of a profession, which was that of 
mining: and his mineralogical and chemical studies 
were formed under Warner, at Freyburg, where 
Humboldt first entered upon his illustrious career. 
At noon the companionship of his sister and her 
friends, called out his gentlest sympathies and delicate 
tastes, while that of his father's literary coteries 
elicited his noblest intelligence ; summer excursions 
made him familiar with the most beautiful scenery 
of his country ; and thus we have, as it were, a 
complete, though informal, system of life amply 
fitted to educate a poet and hero. It is remark- 
able that singular vivacity of temperament and 
facility of adaptation alternated, under these in- 
fluences, with a solemn earnestness of character; in 
his boyhood and first youth, Korner was lively but 
never frivolous ; he engaged with similar alacrity in 
the most sportive and the most severe occupations, 
soon became a social favourite, and yet retained the 



THEODORE KORXER. 85 

nature of a contemplative enthusiast. His dislike of 
the French, the profound melancholy induced by the 
loss of an intimate friend who was drowned, and a 
quick sense of honour, are traits vividly remembered 
by his earliest associates. 

His first religious pieces seem to have been inspired 
during a foot excursion amid the scenery of Silesia. 
At the Berlin academy, whither he was sent after 
some years of varied teaching at home, Korner 
was engaged in a duel ; and the impetuosity of his 
nature, combined with the strongest poetical ten- 
dencies, led his father to assent to his removing to 
Vienna, where he was cordially received by William 
Humboldt and Schlegel. His rashness of spirit hav- 
ing become subdued by a protracted fever, and his 
domestic sympathies revived from a pleasant sojourn 
with his family at Carlsbad, he exchanged college for 
metropolitan life, in a state of mind peculiarly fitted 
to render it both useful and happy. His cheerful 
temper, fine personal appearance, poetical reputation 
and good birth, gave him every advantage at the outset 
of his brief yet brilliant career at the capital ; but 
these only served him as the initiative steps of fame ; 
and after supporting himself for some months by 
means of his scientific attainments, he began to write 
for the stage. He was not less fortunate in the kind 
of discipline to which his boyhood was subjected; 
this was voluntary; — he was never thwarted; his 
reason, his honour and his tastes were appealed to, 
and his will thus conciliated. To the absence of fear 



86 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

in youth we ascribe the manly freedom of his nature ; 
the only authority claimed over him was that of love ; 
his parents were companions not less than guides. 
They respected his idiosyncrasies, and only sought to 
keep him in true relations with nature, humanity and 
Grod. Hence his faults were always those of excess, 
never of calculation ; he was sometimes rash, but 
knew not a mean instinct ; and the freshness and 
energy of his soul were preserved intact : education 
only ripened and called out original endowments. 

The spirit of enjoyment is more active at Vienna than 
in any city of Germany. If its libraries, museums, 
and galleries of art give it intellectual character, its 
Prater thronged with recreating groups, including 
every class from the emperor to the humblest citizens, 
and boasting the richest corso in Europe, the pre- 
valence of music as a pastime, the number of theatres 
and the social taste of the people, render Vienna the 
centre of genial and varied life : while the devotees 
of art or letters often pursue their respective object 
at Leipsic or "Frankfort with isolated enthusiasm and 
earnest individuality, the tendency of the social 
atmosphere and prosperous activity at Vienna, is to 
make the artist or the man of letters an efficient and 
sympathetic intelligence inspired by and giving im- 
pulse to the circles of fashion, taste and conviviality. 
There lived Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; and if 
their deeper revelations were born in the solitude of 
their own consciousness and the intensity of thought- 
ful emotion, doubtless the zest of life and the good of 



THEODORE KORXER. 87 

human interest around them yielded some of the 
mystic threads which link harmonies to the universal 
heart. Into this enjoyable work Korner brought 
not only his own rare endowments of mind and 
character, but the prestige of good conversation and 
attractive manners. To feel the high and pleasurable 
excitement of writing successfully for the stage at 
this period, and in such a metropolis as Vienna, we 
must remember that the stage was the central point 
of interest to all classes, the theme of enlightened 
criticism, the object of tasteful appreciation ; those 
who illustrated its power, in any department, with 
real genius, were sure not only of professional rewards 
but of social estimation ; the theatre was peculiarly 
a national institution and a fashionable and literary 
nucleus endeared by habit, association and sympathy 
to the most cultivated and respected, as well as the 
pleasure-loving, citizens. The seeds of thought and 
sentiment in the mind of young Korner seemed to 
flower, all at once, in the encouraging sphere, and 
amid the inviting intercourse here opened to him. 

His first efforts were light two-act pieces written in 
Alexandrines, of which the " Bride " and the " Green 
Domino" had such success that he began soon to 
meditate a more elaborate and finished production. 
At this era his time passed in a delightful alternation 
of study and society ; idolized in the latter, he brought 
to the former all the ardent and noble feeling and 
facility of expression which characterized his nature ; 



bb THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

and while the one elicited his sportive and companion- 
able graces, the other gave impulse to the more in- 
tense and thoughtful moods of his soul. An imme- 
diate and intelligent appreciation, like that which 
awaits the successful dramatic author in Germany, 
and the social privileges and sympathy awarded him 
in "Vienna, naturally excited the enthusiasm of Korner, 
and when he was appointed poet to the theatre, his 
fortune and position were truly eminent ; "but ambi- 
tion was only a secondary inspiration, for two senti- 
ments glowed in his heart and gave the utmost 
eloquence to his expression ; he was a genuine patriot 
and lover ; and at this brilliant epoch, the companion- 
ship of his betrothed, the ardent devotion of his 
friends, and the new-born spirit of liberty that stirred 
the breasts of his countrymen, all united to quicken 
and evoke his genius. Time has proved that its most 
legitimate offspring was lyrical poetry ; the directness, 
harmony, and spontaneous origin of this kind of verse 
accorded with the frank earnestness of his character, 
and more faithfully mirrored his inward life than 
the elaborate and studied drama. Yet one remark- 
able triumph in the latter style he soon achieved. 

The tragedy of Zriny, whatever may be its imper- 
fections as a work of art, is memorable as the com- 
position of a youth and as the deliberate record of 
his most profound sentiments. The period of this 
play is 1566, and the action is first at Belgrade 
and then in and before the Hungarian fortress of 



THEODORE KORXER. 89 

Sigeth, which is heroically defended by Nicholas Yon 
Irving, against Soliman ; Lorenzo Juranitsch, the 
former's lieutenant, is the betrothed of his daughter, 
whose character as well as that of her mother are 
delineated with a grace and truth worthy of a poet's 
discriminating estimate of woman. The character 
of Lorenzo Juranitsch is doubtless Korner's own 
ideal ; and the plot of the drama, in a striking 
manner typifies his destiny. Indeed the most em- 
phatic passages of the tragedy are identical with the 
views, feelings, and purposes he cherished, as uttered 
in familiar conversation and letters. In a literary 
point of view, the distinct characterization, the fine 
contrast between the oriental scenes and those in 
the Hungarian fortress ; the powerful and consistent 
tone of self-devotion maintained by Zriny and his 
followers, the intense co-existence of love and duty, — 
are traits so happily manifest as to have seized at 
once on the popular feeling. 

The play may be justly considered as an exposition 
of heroism, and what gives it a permanent interest, is 
the fact that it embodies the habitual state of mind, 
foreshadows the sacrifice and glows with the very soul 
of the author : it also not inadequately represents 
the prevalent sentiment of Germany, at the period. 
The flames of Moscow had kindled the dormant valour 
of northern Europe ; deep indignation against her 
conqueror now found vent in action ; and the love of 
country was thoroughly awakened; a spirit of self- 



90 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

consecration and a holy as well as martial zeal, such 
as the poet so well describes as nerving the Hungarian 
patriots of the tragedy, pervaded all hearts ; so that 
" Zriny" may be regarded as vividly reflecting not 
only the individual consciousness of the poet but the 
public sentiment of his country. An impressive proof 
of the harmony between Korner's expressed and 
acted sentiments, between his character and writings, 
is the coincidence in tone and feeling of the letter 
he addressed his father after his valorous resolve and 
some expressions that fall from the chief actors in 
"Zriny:" 

" I would depart but as a hero should, 
In the full splendour of my boldest love." 

" What is there for us higher in this world 
That's left untasted in our hallow' d wishes ? 
Can life afford a moment of more bliss ? 
Here happiness is transient as the day, 
On high eternal as the love of God." 

" For as with other slaves 'tis nature's law, 
The vital air is the demand of life, 
So, maiden, is his honour to a man." 

" For nothing is too precious for our country." 

"Rash ! nay, I am not so — 
Yet am I venturous and bold for love, 
And all enthusiast for my fatherland." 

" That I devote myself to death were little — 
My life I oft have ventured in the hazard, 
But that I do so, 'mid such joy and pleasure, 
'Mid happiness and highest earthly bliss, 
This is the struggle, this deserve the prize— 
My country may be proud of such an offering." 



THEODORE KORNER. 91 

" I will clasp 
The form of death with arms of youthful love, 
And bravely press it to my youthful breast." 

" For fate may shatter the heroic breast, 
But it can awe not the heroic will ; 
The worm may creep, ignobly, to its rest, — 
The noble mind must fight and triumph still." 

" do not harshly chide with fate, my daughter, 
But rather trust its kind paternal favour, 
Which hath permitted us by this ordeal 
To prove, like gold, our purity of heart." 

^ _ " Vienna, March 10, 1813. 

" Dearest Father, 

" I write to you respecting an event which I feel 
assured will neither surprise nor shock you. I 
lately gave you a hint of my purpose, which has now 
arrived at maturity. Germany rises; the Prussian 
eagle, by the beating of her mighty wings, awakes 
in all true hearts the great hope of German freedom. 
My poetic art sympathizes for my country ; let me 
prove myself her worthy son ! Yes, dearest father, I 
will join the army, will cheerfully throw aside the 
happy, joyous life in which I have here enjoyed, in 
order, with my blood to assist in the deliver- 
ance of my country. Call it not impetuosity, levity, 
rashness. Two years since, it is true, I should have 
termed it thus myself; but now that I know what 
happiness can ripen for me in this life ; now that 
the star of fortune sheds on me its most cheering 
influence, now is it, by heaven, a sacred feeling which 
inspires me, a conviction that no sacrifice can be too 
great to insure our country's freedom. Possibly your 



92 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

fond paternal heart may say, ' Theodore is meant for 
better things ; in another field he might have accom- 
plished objects more worthy and important, he owes 
as yet a weighty obligation to mankind.' But father, 
my conviction is, that for the death-offering for the 
freedom and honour of our country, no one is too 
good; though many are too base. If the Almighty 
have, indeed, inspired me with a more than common 
mind, which has been taught and formed by thy care 
and affection, where is the moment when I can better 
exert it than now ? A great age requires great souls, 
and I feel that I may prove a rock amid this con- 
cussion of the nations. I must forth and oppose my 
daring breast to the waves of the storm. 

" Shall I be content to celebrate in poetry the success 
of my brethren while they fight and conquer ? Shall 
I write entertainments for 'the comic theatre, when I 
feel within me the courage and the strength to take 
part in the great and serious drama of life ? I am 
aware that you will suffer much — my mother too 
will weep ! May Grod be her comfort ; I cannot 
spare you this trial. I have ever deemed myself the 
favourite of fortune ; she will not forsake me now. 
That I simply venture my life is but of little import ; 
but that I offer it, crowned as it is, with all the flow- 
ery wreaths of love, of friendship — that I cast away 
the sweet sensation which lived in the conviction that 
I should never cause you inquietude or sorrow, this 
is, indeed, a sacrifice which can only be opposed to 



THEODORE KORNER. 93 

such a prize — our country's freedom. Either on 
Saturday or Monday I depart, probably accompanied 
by friends, or possibly H. may despatch me as a 
courier. At Breslau, my place of destination, I meet 
the free sons of Prussia, who have enthusiastically 
collected there, under the banner of their king. I 
have scarcely decided, as yet, whether I join the 
cavalry or infantry; this may depend upon the sum 
of money which may be at my disposal. As to my 
present appointment here, I know, as yet, nothing 
certain; possibly the Prince will give me leave of 
absence, if not there is no seniority in art, and should 
I return to Vienna, I have the assurance of Count 
Palfy that still greater advantage of a pecuniary 
nature await. Antonia has, on this occasion, proved 
the great, the noble character of her soul. She weeps, 
it is true, but the termination of the campaign will 
dry her tears. My mother must forgive me the tears 
I cause her ; whoever loves me will not censure me ; 
and you, father, will find me worthy of you. 

" Thy Theodoke." 

At the very outset of their march, after joining 
his regiment, they bivouacked in a graveyard; one 
of the mounds was his pillow, and over another 
his horse stumbled — and it was regarded by the 
superstitious observers as ominous. When his sister, 
who was possessed of much artistic skill, and whose 
grief for his loss wore away her life, was painting him, 



94 THE YOUTHFUL HERO t 

she suddenly wept — declaring that she saw his head 
bleeding. He wrote to a friend on the eve of his 
departure, " if I shall never again be in Meadowst, 
perhaps I shall soon be on the green, and quite peace- 
ful, quite still!" Indeed, even the most thoughtless 
of the students who, with all the ardour of youth, 
threw themselves into the impending struggle — were 
aware of the truth of Korner's declaration, " every 
second man of us must die." With him this self- 
devotion was no sudden fit of martial enthusiasm, 
but the cherished purpose of years ; many allusions 
in his letters and familiar talk afterwards became 
clear to his friends. He had felt deeply the misfor- 
tunes of his country and pondered on the duty of a 
citizen, until it was his firm resolve to embrace the 
first occasion to fight, and if needful, to die for his 
native land. The summons came when the goblet of 
life sparkled to the brim, when his mind and heart — 
his affections and his intellect were thoroughly and 
genially absorbed; yet he hesitated not a moment, 
but enrolled himself in Zutzow's corps. 

Eew episodes in literary history, or rather in the 
biography of genius, have a more complete and harmo- 
nious moral beauty than the whole life of Theodore 
Korner : there is no wonderful precocity suddenly 
eclipsed by decay ; no finale of insanity turning the 
sweetest melody into horrible discord; no sad com- 
promise between the dreams of youth and the calcula- 
tions of interest ; all is sustained, noble and con- 



- THEODORE KORXER. 95 

Bistent : — a childhood enriched with high acquisitions 
and refined by domestic love ; — a youth developed 
with freedom in an atmosphere of truth ; genuine 
relations with nature and humanity; cheerfulness, 
intelligence, fortitude and self-devotion; a unity of 
being that presents a remarkable contrast to the 
fragmentary, baffled, and too often, incongruous ex- 
perience of the gifted and the brave. It is affecting, 
and, at the same time, sublime to recall the happy 
life of the young poet at Vienna, — environed by the 
delights of social and literary fame, the cordialities of 
hospitality, the consolations of friendship, the sweet 
communion of love, and then behold it, suddenly 
yet calmly exchanged for hardship, peril and death. 
Amid the pleasurable excitements of the gay capital, 
instead of being enervated he was nerved. 

It was his custom to retire to the neighbouring 
village of Doblinger to write. " I always work in the 
garden," he says, "where I am now writing this letter. 
A thicket of chestnut trees spreads its cooling shade 
around me, and my guitar, which hangs behind me 
on the next tree, employs me in those moments when 
I cease to write." Antonia, his betrothed, appears 
vo have united the most charming domestic feelings 
with that heroic spirit that endeared her to her lover. 
He used to visit her after his morning's labour, quit 
her presence to dine with Humboldt, or some other 
genial savan, pass the evening either at a party or 
the theatre, and return home to prosecute his literary 



96 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

task, his correspondence or his studies. Love and 
art exclusively reigned in his soul. Yet in accordance 
with that law by which the reaction of enthusiasm is 
inevitable melancholy, Korner often turned from the 
external sunshine of his lot to realize a gloom within. 
He had a distinct presentiment of early death, 
although with characteristic heroism it seldom found 
other than playful expression. When he was digging 
the foundation of a temporary hut, his comrade said 
to him, " You dig like a grave-digger ;" and he replied, 
" We ought to practise the trade, for we shall doubt- 
less have to render, each for the other, that labour of 
love." 

These noble volunteers, comprising the flower of 
the German youth, were consecrated to the high office 
they had espoused, at the village church of Breslau ; 
and the muse of their gallant comrade gave utterance 
to their religious zeal as well as to their patriotic 
sentiment. The popularity and influence of his 
martial songs had already endeared his name not only 
to this chosen band, but to all his brave countrymen ; 
at leisure intervals he wrote other lyrics suggested by 
the exigencies or feelings of the moment, and selected 
appropriate melodies that soon winged them, like 
seeds of valour, throughout the land. He made a 
final visit to his family at Dresden, before the regi- 
ment departed; and we next hear of him thus 
anticipating a premature death, after the battle of 
Darmeburg : 



THEODORE KORNER. 97 



FAREWELL TO LIFE. 



Written in the night of the seventeenth and eighteenth of June, as I 
lay severely wounded and helpless in a wood, expecting to die. 

My deep wound burns — my pale lips quake in death — 
I feel my fainting heart resign its strife, 
And reaching now the limit of my life, 

Lord, to thy will I yield my parting breath. 

Yet many a dream hath charm 'd my youthful eye : 
And must life's fairy visions all depart ? 
Oh, surely no ! for all that fired my heart 

To rapture here, shall live with me on high. 

And that fair form that won my earliest vow, 
That my young spirit prized all else above, 
And now adored as freedom, now as love, 

Stands in seraphic guise, before me now;! 

And as my fading senses fade away, 

It beckons me, on high, to realms of endless day ! 

Pew heroic lyrics exhibit a more genuine spirit than 
the "Sword Song," and "Liitzow's Wild Chase." 
The former was written on the eve of the engagement 
in which he fell ; he was sending it to a friend, when 
the signal of attack was made, and it was found in his 
pocket-book after his death. The tirrailleurs of the 
enemy fired from a dense grove ; a ball passed through 
the neck of Kbrner's horse, entered his spine, and 
he instantly expired ; so immediate was the cessation 
of life, that the expression of his countenance remained 
unchanged when the body was carried off the field ; 
one of his heart-stricken friends cried, " Let us follow 
Kbrner," and they rushed upon the ambushed enemy 
with desperate valour. Adored by his companions in 



98 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

arms, for his delightful social qualities as well as for 
his transcendant gifts and peerless courage, with 
silent grief they dug his grave beneath a majestic oak 
by the road-side, and carved his name on its trunk. 
With this noble tree the memory of Korner is in- 
dissolubly associated ; as indigenous to and character- 
istic of his country, it possessed for him a singular 
charm; and in the luxuriance of its summer foliage, 
shaken off so bravely to meet the winter gale, it is an 
apt symbol of the young hero cheerfully throwing 
aside the prosperous crown that decked his brow, 
to war for liberty. One of his pieces derives a melan- 
choly interest from the subject, that deepens its 
intrinsic pathos : 

THE OAKS. 

"Tis evening: all is hush'd and still, 
The sun sets bright in ruddy sheen; 

As here I sit, to muse at will 

Beneath these oaks' umbrageous screen ; 

While wand' ring thoughts my fancy fill 
With dreams of life when fresh and green, 

And visions of the olden time 

Revive in all their pomp sublime. 

While time hath called the brave away, 
And swept the lovely to the tomb; 

As yonder bright but fading ray 

Is quench' d amid the twilight gloom: 

Yet ye are kept from all decay, 

For still unhurt and fresh ye bloom, 

And seem to tell in whispering breath, 

That greatness still survives in death ! 



THEODORE KORNER. 99 

And ye survive ! — 'mid change severe, 

Each aged stem but stronger grows, 
And not a pilgrim passes here, 

But seeks beneath your shade repose. 
And if your leaves, when dry and sere, 

Fall fast at autumn's wintry close, 
Yet every falling leaf shall bring 
Its vernal tribute to the spring. 

Thou native oak, thou German tree, 

Fit emblem too of German worth ! 
Type of a nation brave and free, 

And worthy of their native earth ! 
Ah ! what avails to think on thee, 

Or on the times when thou hadst birth? 
Thou German race, the noblest aye of all, 
Thine oaks still stand, while thou, alas ! must fall. 

The mineralogical excursions and hardy exercises of 
Korner proved an admirable initiation to military 
service ; and habits of activity and method soon made 
him thoroughly efficient in his new vocation. It is 
remarkable that his was the first blood shed after 
joining the corps; having been sent with a flag of 
truce, in violation of the armistice, he received a 
wound without drawing his sabre ; and it is also 
worthy of notice, as illustrating the horrors of war, 
that he fell, as has been subsequently discovered, by 
the shot of one of his own countrymen in the enemy's 
ranks. How beautiful in the retrospect, is the short, 
but illustrious career we have thus imperfectly traced ; 
how truly deed responded to thought and experience 
to sentiment in Korner' s life ! Generous and devoted 
feelings exalted him above the bitterness of disappoint- 



100 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

ment ; his days were occupied with acts of high 
utility aud his nights in lofty contemplation. 

He used to steal away from the bivouac to the forest, 
to think of those he loved; and when overcome by 
the pleadings, tenderness, and the desire for sympathy, 
he sought refuge in heroic aspirations or pious 
thought. "If it has been denied me," he writes, "to 
kneel with my bride at the altar, a bride of steel has 
been entrusted to me, to whom I have sworn eternal 
truth." This calmness and resolution is the more 
striking when we picture Korner to our fancy, charm- 
ing a select circle with his guitar, or his amateur 
performance of the Swedish Captain in " Wallenstein," 
and writing pieces for Humboldt's children ; and 
realize his adaptation to the peaceful happiness of 
domestic and artist life. The total change in his 
pursuits and enjoyments is best revealed by his letters, 
varying in date but a few months. Thus at one time 
he writes from Vienna ; " "Would I could have seen 
you all in a box yesterday. The finest feeling is that 
of composition itself; next to this ranks the satisfac- 
tion of seeing one's work represented with affection 
and skill; the loftiest lies in the conviction that one 
has seized the souls of others." "I amuse myself 
here divinely ; am always engaged a week beforehand ; 
and, I may say, am quite the rage :" and soon after, 
in this strain — " A great moment of my life is ap- 
proaching. Be convinced you shall find me not 
unworthy of you when the trial comes :" and again 



THEODORE KORNER. 101 

from the camp: "The corps already sing several of 
my songs, and I cannot describe to you how agreeable 
is the relation in which I live, as the most cultivated 
and select minds of all Germany are near me in rank 
and place." 

The union of strength of moral purpose and sensi- 
bility of feeling in Korner's character, was obvious in 
his appearance, and exhibits itself vividly in his poems : 
his dark hair shaded a brow open with truth and 
prominent with intelligence, but, in moments of 
determination, knit by a concentrated will; and his 
blue eye could wear [a dauntless as well as a most 
gentle expression. Conscious of the apparent incon- 
gruity at times in his behaviour, he thus naturally 
explains it in one of his letters : " If you, perchance, 
have occasionally conceived me to be deficient in 
warmth of heart, my external manner has deceived 
you : too |warm to be grave and too proud to appear 
weak, I find I am often exposed to be mistaken, 
because it is not known why I am thus apparently 
severe and capricious ; both of these moods being 
in fact only a relief to the overflow of my feelings." 

Korner, fortunately, left us a reliable index of his 
nature in his poems: there we recognise both his 
heroism and his love in their elemental and spon- 
taneous action ; and two of them — one written on 
parting with his chosen bride, and the other embody- 
ing the religious sentiment that hallowed his patriot- 
ism, give us, as it were, a key to the apparent 



102 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

antagonism but real and divine consistency of his 
sentiments : 



Farewell, farewell ! — with silent grief of heart 

I breathe adieu to follow duty now; 
And if a silent tear unbidden start, 

It will not, love, disgrace a soldier's brow. 
Where'er I roam, should joy my path illume, 
Or death entwine the garland of the tomb, 
Thy lovely form shall float my path above, 
And guide my soul to rapture and to love !" 

hail and bless, sweet spirit of my life, 
The ardent zeal that sets my soul on fire; 

That bids me take a part in yonder strife, 
And for the sword, awhile, forsake the lyre. 

For, see, thy minstrel's dreams were not all vain, 

Which he so oft hath halloed in his strain; 

see the patriot-strife at length awake ! 

There let me fly and all its toils partake. 

The victor's joyous wreath shall bloom more bright 
That's pluck'd amid the joys of love and song; 

And my young spirit hails with pure delight 
The hope fulfilled which it hath cherished long. 

Let me but struggle for my country's good, 

E'en though I shed for her my warm life-blood. 

And now one kiss — e'en though the last it prove; 

For there can be no death for our true love ! 



PRAYER DURING BATTLE. 

Father, I invoke thee ! 
I am involved in clouds of vapour from the warring mouths 

of fire, 
The lightnings of those thunderbolts flash around me. 

Ruler of battles, I invoke thee ! 

Father, lead me on. 



THEODORE KORNER. 103 

Father, lead me on ! 
Conduct me to victory; conduct me to death! 
Lord, I recognize thy will ! 

Lord, conduct me as thou wilt ! 

God ! I acknowledge thee ! 

God, I acknowledge thee ! 
As in the autumnal whisper of the leaves, 
So in the storm of the battle.' 

Thee, primeval fountain of grace, I recognize ! 

Father, oh, bless me ! 

Father, oh, bless me ! 
Into thy hands I commend my life ! 
Thou can'st take it away, thou did'st give it ! 

In living and in dying, bless me ! 

Father, I worship thee ! 

Father, I worship thee ! 
It is not a combat for the goods of this world; 
The most sacred of things we defend with the sword, 

Wherefore, falling or conquering, I worship thee ! 

God to thee I resign myself! 

God, to thee I resign myself! 
If the thunders of death salute me, 
If the blood flow from my opened veins, 

To thee, my God, I resign myself! 

Thee, Father, I invoke ! 

Among the many epithets that may justly be given 
to our times, is that of the age of discrimination. 
Analysis is now universal ; new definitions increase, 
and shades of meaning in character are observed and 
noted by the philosophic with no less care than the 
elements of matter by men of science ; all subjects are 
tested either by the clever method of French nomen- 
clature, the spiritual refinements of German thought, 
or the bold rhetoric and vigorous sense of the Anglo- 



104 THE YOUTHFUL HERO : 

Saxon mind. Perhaps no human trait has become so 
modified to common apprehension by this intellectual 
process than courage. It is now needful that some- 
thing beyond bold adventure, impetuous warfare, or 
even patient endurance should exist, in order to gain 
the renown of bravery. We hesitate at the action to 
search its motive ; the temperament, intelligence, ex- 
perience, and moral sensibility of the individual are 
taken into account before we admit his claims to the 
title of hero. 

Whoever has carefully read Poster's " Essay on 
Decision of Character," De Quincey's "Treatise on 
the Caesars," and Carlyle's "Hero- Worship" — all books 
of the day and more or less popular — cannot fail to 
discriminate somewhat between the indications of 
rashness and determination, ferocity and self-control, 
impulse and hardihood, in judging of those who 
occupy the foreground of history. Heroism is now 
regarded as a higher quality than instinct, as more 
truly characteristic of Dante than Nelson, less ques- 
tionable in Sir Thomas More than in Murat, and 
quite as obvious at Valley-Forge as at Waterloo. 
With all the subtle distinctions, however, that modern 
enlightenment finds between real and apparent heroism, 
there are a few absolute principles that stamp the 
indisputable hero ; and among these are a thorough 
consciousness of the hazard incurred, a voluntary self- 
renunciation, a deliberate purpose consistently fol- 
lowed, and an honest zeal based on individual senti- 
ment ; thus intellect, will, and heart combine to mould 



THEODORE KOR^sER. 105 

the hero ; and inform his character with an ardour, a 
harmony and a nobleness equally removed from 
fanaticism on the one hand and mere hardihood on the 
other. Where the first development of this spirit is 
social and literary, and its subsequent phase action and 
martyrdom — the cycle of heroic life is adequately filled, 
its conditions realized, and its fame achieved. 

Such was the case with Theodore Korner. The 
vivacity of his mind first exhibited itself in comic pieces 
that amused the gay Viennese, and wafted the young 
author prosperously along the flattering tide of metro- 
politan success ; his critics, however, attached to them 
little intrinsic value ; but some of the minor poems 
scattered through the four volumes, published by his 
father after his death — most of them written before 
the age of twenty-two — are permanently enshrined in 
the literature of his country ; they prove the sincerity 
of his after course ; in them are manifest the fiery as- 
sailant and the poetical lover ; while the more elaborate 
dramas of " Eosamund" and " Zriny" unfold at length 
the same innate vigour of the will and the affections ; 
the one inducing fortitude and the other tenderness. 
The spirit of chivalry and pathos thus emanating from 
the poet, were actualized by the soldier ; and this is 
Korner' s beautiful distinction. His " Sword Song " 
became the Marseilles Hymn of Germany ; and he 
bravely fought the battle of truth and liberty with the 
lyre and the sword — thenceforth and for ever blended 
with his name. 



THE LITEEABY ADVENTUBEE : 
KICHAKD SAVAGE. 



The distinction of civilized society is that human 
life is systematic, and the natural effect of those cir- 
cumstances which, in any degree, except an individual 
from its usual routine and responsibilities, is to induce 
the impulsive action and precarious expedients that 
belong to wild races. In the world of opinion and 
habit I occasionally see those who, goaded by misfor- 
tune or inspired by an adventurous temper, break away 
from the restraint which custom ordains, and by hardi- 
hood in action or extravagance of sentiment, practically 
isolate themselves from nearly all the social obligations 
acknowledged by mankind. Indeed every human 
pursuit may be said to have its respectable and its 
vagabond followers. In trade these extremes are ob- 
vious in the merchant and the pedlar ; — in the church, 
we have the bishop and the field-preacher: and in 
literature, the author who devotes the leisure that 
ntervenes between the care of his estates and the 



THE LITER AKY ADVENTURER. 107 

engagements of fashionable society, to a review, a poem, 
or a history, and the man about town who lives by his 
wits, and whose dinner is contingent upon a happy 
epigram or a succesful farce. Even when fortune and 
rank obtain, natures imbued with a vagrant or 
adventurous spirit will cut loose from social bondage 
through mere waywardness or courage, as if there 
were gipsy blood in their veins, or the instinct of hero- 
ism or discovery in their hearts. 

The enthusiasm of misanthropy made Byron a pil- 
grim, that of reform drove Shelley into exile, and that 
of sentiment won Eousseau to a picturesque hermitage. 
How much of human conduct depends upon the source 
whence is derived the inspiration or the sanction of ex- 
istence ! Family pride leads to a constant reference to 
the standard of external honour; the desire of wealth to 
a keen adaptation of all occasions to interest ; while the 
consciousness of having nothing beyond personal re- 
sources to look to for advancement or happiness, breeds 
in earnest minds, an independence of mood almost 
defiant. To this we attribute, in no small degree, the 
recklessness of Savage. Every circumstance of his life 
tended to encourage self-will. He found neither in 
his birth, his fortunes, nor the incidents of his daily 
experience, any vantage-ground for confidence. Fate 
seemed to ordain between him and society a perpetual 
enmity. Hence his dauntless egotism ; driven from 
the outworks of life, he fortified the citadel. Sure of 
no palladium but his genius, he held it up as a shield 



108 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

against the arrows of scorn, or thrust it forth as an 
authentic emblem of his right to demand from others 
the satisfaction of his wants. Perhaps there is no 
instance, if we except Benvenuto Cellini, of more 
ferocious self-reliance, or rather pertinacity in levying 
tribute. In his career we realize that the essential 
traits of civilized and barbarian life may assimilate ; 
that refined mental aptitude may co-exist with extreme 
personal degradation; and that the support of 
existence is often as precarious, and the habits of 
life as vagrant in a Christian metropolis, as among the 
Indian tribes of America, or the wild hordes of the 
East. 

The genuine literary adventurer is, indeed, a kind 
of social Ishmaelite, pitching the tent of his con- 
venience as necessity or whim suggests. It is his 
peculiar destiny to "take no note of time," for he 
falls into any incidental scheme of festivity at 
morning, noon or night, joins any band of roisterers 
he may encounter, takes part in the street-corner 
discussions of any casual knot of politicians, and 
is always ready to go to the theatre, the club, a 
private domicile, or a coffee-house, with the first 
chance acquaintance he meets. He hangs loose 
upon the skirts of society. If the immediate is 
agreeable, he scorns change, and hence will prolong 
his social visits to the infinite annoyance of those 
who keep regular hours. Where he breakfasts, 
dines, or sleeps, is problematical in the morning. 



KICHARD SAVAGE. 109 

As the itinerant musician goes forth to win enter- 
tainment by his dulcet notes, the vagabond man 
of genius trusts to his fond of clever stories, his 
aptitude as a diner-out, his facility at pen-craft, or 
his literary reputation, to win upon the sympathies 
of some humane auditor, or chain the attention of 
the inquisitive, and thus provide for the claims of 
physical necessity. 

His appeal is threefold — to the benevolent, the 
curious, and the vain; and in a large city, with 
the entree of a few circles and places of resort, 
it will be, indeed, a strange hazard that deprives 
him wholly of these long-tried expedients. His 
agreeability makes him friends which his indiscre- 
tions at length weary; but as he generally prefers 
to do all the talking himself, he gradually ceases to 
be fastidious, and when he cannot fraternize with 
a scholar or a gentleman, contents himself with 
inferior society. The consciousness of superior 
gifts and singular misfortunes, soon blunts that 
delicacy which shrinks from obligation. He receives 
a favour with the air of a man to whom consideration 
is a birthright. He is, as Landor says of woman, 
more sensitive than grateful ; borrows money and 
books without a thought of returning them, and 
although the most dependent of beings, instantly 
resents the slightest approach to dictation as a 
personal insult. He is emphatically what Shakes- 
peare denominates a "landless resolute;" considers 
prudence too mean a virtue for him to adopt, and 



110 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

industry a habit unworthy of his spirit. His wits 
are his capital, which he invests, day by day — now 
and then, perhaps, embarking them in a more 
deliberate venture, by way of polishing his tarnished 
escutcheon. Equally exempt from the laws of 
sentiment as those of economy, he makes uncon- 
scionable drafts upon the approbativeness and the 
malignity of others, by inditing panegyrics and 
lampoons. 

A subscription, a dedication, or a satire, by awaken- 
ing the generosity, the pride, or the fear of the 
world, alternately supply the exigencies of the 
moment; while the utter loss of self-respect is 
prevented by some occasional effort in a nobler 
vein, or complacent memories of past renown. 
Custom renders him at home everywhere ; address 
repudiates individual rights ; and a kind of happy 
boldness annihilates, by a stroke of humour or a 
phrase of geniality, the barriers of artificial reserve. 
He is the modern knight-errant — prompt to challenge 
recognition, and, with gallant bearing, win the 
guerdon for which he aspires, whether it be the 
smile of beauty-, the companionship of rank, or the 
privileges that wealth dispenses. 

Experience in shifts, and a sanguine temper united 
to capacity for reflection, render him withal a philoso- 
pher ; so that, although keenly alive to present enjoy- 
ment, he can suffer with fortitude, and heroically 
sport with deprivation. He is vividly conscious of 
what Madame de Stael declares is one great secret 



RICHARD SAVAGE. Ill 

of delight — its fragility. His existence is singularly 
detached from routine, and, like a bird or a butterfly, 
he soars or alights, as caprice suggests — a chartered 
adventurer to whom has been presented the freedom 
of nature. Leisure gives scope to his observation; 
need quickens his perception; and the very uncer- 
tainty of subsistence adds infinitely to the relish of 
each gratification. A voluntary outlaw, he claims 
ransom from those his talents have made captive ; 
regarding himself as a public benefactor, he deems 
society under obligations to take care of him ; prodigal 
in his mental riches, he despises those who are parsi- 
monious either of their time or their hospitality. 
and sincere in his admiration, and perhaps in his 
advocacy, of all that is magnanimous and beautiful, 
he learns to regard material advantage as his just 
inheritance, which directly to seek, would obscure 
the heraldry bestowed by his genius and sanctioned 
by misfortune. 

To him might be literally applied Valentine's 
argument in Fletcher's comedy of "Wit without 
Money :" 

"Means — 
Why, all good men's my means; my wit 's my plough, 
The town 's my stock, tavern 's my standing -house, 
(And all the world knows there's no want); all gentlemen 
That love society, love me; all purses 
That wit and pleasure open, are my tenants ; 
Every man's clothes fit me ; the next fair lodging 
Is but my next remove; and when I please 
To be more eminent, and take the air, 



112 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

A piece is levied, and a coach prepared, 
And I go I care not whither." 

" What's my knowledge, uncle ? 
Is't not worth money ? What's my understanding ? 
Travel ! reading ! wit ! all these digested ! My daily 
Making men, some to speak, that too much phlegm 
Had frozen up ; some, that spoke too much, to hold 
Their peace, and put their tongues to pensions. 

" Besides these ways to teach 
The way of nature, a manly love, community 
To all that are deservers, not examining 
How much or what's done for them; it is wicked." 

It is peculiar to this class of men to be unconscious 
of the diverse attractions of talents and character. 
Their egotism prevents an habitual recognition of the 
important fact that the entertainment afforded by 
conversational abilities and personal sympathy are two 
very distinct things. Because their talk is listened to 
with avidity, their wit productive of laughter, and 
their reputation of deference, they deduce the erroneous 
conclusion that individually and for themselves an 
interest is awakened; whereas, in most cases, the 
charm is purely objective. By men of the world, 
genius of a literary kind is regarded in the same light 
as dramatic, artistic and juggling cleverness — the 
result is not associated with the person ; it is the 
pastime, not the man that wins. A conviction so 
wounding to self-love is not easily adopted ; and, 
as a natural consequence, the deluded victims of social 
applause continue, in spite of mortifying experience 
to look for a degree of consideration, and demand a 



RICHARD SAVAGE. 113 

sympathy which it is absurd to expect from any but 
the very liberal and the naturally kind, who confessedly 
form the exception, not the rule, in general society. 
Yet in actors, authors, and artists who possess great 
self-esteem, this error is the rock upon which the bark 
of hope invariably splits. There seems to be a kind 
of inevitable blindness in this regard. Slowly and by 
long degrees, comes home the feeling that it is what 
the man of genius does, not what he is, that excites 
admiration. When the pageant of an hour fades, 
what care the narrow-minded and the selfish for those 
who have ministered to their pleasure ? Only en- 
thusiasm lingers and pays tribute ; only gratitude is 
sensible of an obligation incurred ; reverence alone 
dreams of any return, and conscientiousness is the 
sole monitor that pays the debt. 

The incidents of his life rather than the creations 
of his genius have preserved the fame of Savage. His 
poems are his only writings now recognised, and we 
find them regularly included in editions of the British 
anthology ; it is, however, but here and there, scattered 
through a long array of heroics, that we can detect 
either originality or raciness. Like his life these 
effusions are crude and unsustained ; they lack finish, 
completeness, and unity. Deformed by coarseness, 
and sometimes by obscurity, they often repel taste ; 
and their frequent want of clear and uniform design 
induces weariness. Their most genuine interest is 
personal ; we naturally associate them with the mis- 

i 



114 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

fortunes of the author, and the special references are 
not without a pathetic zest. The u Progress of a 
Divine" and " The Bastard," although redeemed by 
wit and cleverness, are too grossly indelicate for general 
perusal. The bitterness of the one and the confident 
hilarity with which the other begins, are very charac- 
teristic of Savage. It is evident that he possessed, in 
an uncommon degree, what the phrenologists call the 
organ of wonder, and metaphysical writers a sense of 
the sublime. In his descriptions of nature and life, 
we perceive the inspiration of a reflective ideality. 
His couplets occasionally glow with vital animation, 
and his choice of epithets is often felicitous. Vigour, 
fluency, and expressiveness, at times indicate that there 
was an original vein in his nature, though too care- 
lessly worked to produce a great and consistent result. 
" The Wanderer" is the poem upon which he evidently 
bestowed the greatest care. It may be regarded as 
his own epitaph, written by himself, and embodying 
the dark phases of his career, the most vivid of his 
sensations, and the beauty of his moral sentiments, 
combined with the want of system, the self-esteem, 
recklessness and courage which alternated in his 
feelings and conduct. 

The following passages evidently allude to actual 
experience : 

" Is chance a guilt ? that my disastrous heart 
For mischief never meant, should ever smart ! 
Can self-defence be sin ? Ah, plead no more ! 
What though no purposed malice stain thee o'er ! 



RICHARD SAVAGE. 115 

Had heaven befriended thy unhappy side, 
Thou had' st not been provoked or thou had'st died." 
# * # * 



No mother's care 



Shielded my infant innocence with prayer; 

No father's guardian hand my youth maintained, 

Called forth my virtues or from vice restrained." 

He learned the process of glass-manufacturing, by 
sleeping during winter nights, when a vagrant, near 
the furnaces : 

"Yon limeless sands, loose driving with the wind. 
In future cauldrons useful textures find, 
Till on the furnace thrown, the glowing mass 
Brightens and brightening, hardens into glass." 

The homeliness of such lines is like Crabbe, yet his 
capacity for more polished versification is shown in his 
allusion to Pope, as polished and emphatic as that of 
the master rhymer himself : 

" Though gay as mirth, as curious though sedate, 

As elegance polite, as pow'r elate, 

Profound as reason and as justice clear, 

Soft as compassion and as truth severe ; 

As bounty copious, as persuasion sweet, 

Like nature various and like art complete, 

So firm her morals, so sublime her views, 

His life is almost equalled by his muse." 

In metaphor, also, Savage is effective. Thus he 
compares the " steamy currents " at morning twi- 
light, to " veins blue winding on a fair one's arm," 
and of a river hidden in umbrage, observes 

" Yet, at one point, winds out in silver state, 
Like virtue from a labyrinth of fate ." 



116 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

He calls shells " tinctured rivals of the showery 

bow," and, describing a vast prospect, says 

" The herds seem insects in the distant glades, 
And men diminished as, at noon, their shades." 

His adjectives are sometimes very graphic, however 
inelegant ; he speaks of wanning himself at " chippy 
fires," and detailing a repast, informs us 

" That o'er a homely board a napkin's spread, 
Crowned with a heapy canister of bread." 

The gleams of high sentiment that, like flashes of 
heat-lightning from a dense cloud, emanate from 
Savage, are refreshing, and justify his biographer's 
tribute to his better nature. Self-indulgent as he was, 
he declares that 

' ' Reason's glory is to quell desire." 
Although he obviously is in his element when 

' ' In gay converse glides the festive hour," 
he yet recognises a providence in affliction : — 

' •' Why should I then of private loss complain, 
Of loss that proves, perchance, a brother's gain ? 
The wind that binds one bark within the bay, 
May waft a richer freight its wished-for way. 
Man's bliss is like his knowledge, but surmised, 
One ignorance, the other pain disguised. 
When seeking joy, we seldom sorrow miss, 
And often misery points the path to bliss. 
Know, then, if ills oblige thee to retire, 
Those ills solemnity of thought inspire." 

The following random extracts betray a vivid con- 
sciousness of his own fate and tendencies : 



RICHARD SAVAGE. 11 1 

" False pride ! what vices on our conduct steal 
From the world's eye one frailty to conceal ! 
Ye cruel mothers ! soft ! those words command ! 
So near shall cruelty and mother stand ? 
Can the dove's bosom snaky venom draw ? 
Can her foot sharpen like the vulture's claw ?" 

# # * * 

" Loosed to the world's wide range, enjoined no aim. 
Prescribed no duty and assigned no name, 
Nature's unbounded son, he stands alone, 
His heart unbiassed and his mind his own." 

# # # # 

" From ties maternal, moral and divine, 
Discharg'd my gasping soul; pushed me from shore, 
And launched me into life without an oar." 

# # # # 

" Born to himself, by no profession led, 

In freedom fostered, and by fortune fed, 

Nor guides, nor rules, his sovereign choice control, 

His body independent as his soul." 

# * # # 

M Inly secure, though conscious soon of ill, 
Nor taught by wisdom how to balance will, 
Rashly deceived, I saw no pits to shun, 
But thought to pwpose and to act were one." 

That we have not exaggerated the prominent claim 
of Savage to represent the literary adventurer, a 
glance at the account of him by Johnson — (the most 
remarkable and original of his " Lives of the Poets") — 
will, at once, evidence. We are there told that, when 
a guest, he " could neither be persuaded to go to bed 
at night, or rise by day ;" that " he considered himself 
discharged by the first quarrel, from all ties of honour 
and gratitude ;" that " when he loved a man, he 



118 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

suppressed all his faults, and when he had been 
offended by him, suppressed all his virtues ;" — 
" always asked favours without the least submission 
or apparent consciousness of dependence:" "pur- 
chased the luxury of a night by the anguish of cold 
and hunger for a week ;" " though he scarcely ever 
found a stranger whom he did not leave a friend, he 
had not often a friend long, without obliging him to 
become a stranger ;" and that " the reigning error of 
his life was that he mistook the love for the practice of 
virtue." 

We could easily multiply well authenticated instances 
of the foibles and the inconsiderateness, the casual 
triumphs and low expedients that doomed him to 
vibrate " between beggary and extravagance." To 
indicate the relative value he attached to his inward 
resources and his outward obligations, a few anecdotes 
will suffice. While an inmate of Lord Tyrconnel's 
family, he sold several books which his host had 
presented him with his lordship's arms stamped upon 
them ; and, at the same time, betrayed the most fas- 
tidious and even " superstitious regard to the 
correction of his proof-sheets." While on the most 
intimate and friendly terms with Dennis, he wrote 
an epigram against him; and when his friends, 
their patience quite exhausted, contributed to secure 
him a permanent retreat in the country, he indulged 
in the most illusive dreams of rural felicity, and 
before he was half-way on the road to Wales, sent 



RICHARD SAVAGE. 119 

back to London for new supplies, which he soon 
expended among pleasant companions in Bristol, whose 
keen appreciation of his social qualities induced a 
versified comparison of their merits with those of his 
London protectors, by no means to the advantage of 
the latter, notwithstanding his recent obligations. The 
reverse of Dominie Sampson, he was very scornful at 
the idea of new habiliments being furnished him without 
the intervention of his own taste and authority. The 
mortification of illegitimacy was solaced by that of 
noble blood and the advantages he traced to " the 
lusty stealth of nature." Scenes of profligacy, social 
ostracism, and a criminal trial utterly failed in under- 
mining a "steady confidence in his own capacity;" 
while he only regarded poverty as an evil from the 
contempt it is apt to engender; and he always 
thought himself justified in resenting neglect " with- 
out attempting to force himself into regard." Such a 
combination of traits developed under extraordinary 
vicissitudes, completely illustrate the spirit of literary 
adventure, and the perversity of unregulated talent. 

Yet this dark biographical picture, gloomy as one 
of Spagnoletto's martyrdoms, is not without mellow 
tints, nor its hard outlines unrelieved by touches of 
humanity. Upon his first discovery of a mother's 
name and existence, revealed to him by several docu- 
ments found among the effects of his deceased nurse, 
the heart of Savage awakened to all the latent tender- 
ness inspired by a new-born affection. It was his 



120 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

habit, long after the determined repulse of his un- 
natural parent had quenched the hope of recognition, 
to walk to and fro before her house, in the twilight, 
amply compensated if, through his tears, he could 
obtain but a glimpse of her robe as she passed near 
the window, or see the gleam of a candle in her 
chamber. At the period of his greatest want and 
highest mental activity, he composed while perambu- 
lating a verdant square, or retired mall, and then 
entered a shop, asked for a scrap of paper, and noted 
down his conceptions. In this manner he is said to 
have written an entire tragedy ; and certainly few 
instances of resolute authorship in the grasp of 
poverty can equal its touching fortitude. 

His speech to the court when arraigned for sentence 
after being convicted of homicide, is said to have been 
manly and eloquent, and certainly won for him great 
sympathy and respect. There must have been some- 
thing in his character that inspired esteem as well as 
in his fortunes to kindle compassion, from the interest 
so frequently excited and patiently manifested in his 
behalf by individuals widely separated in position and 
opinions. In some instances, too, the independence 
of his nature exhibited itself in a noble manner. The 
spirited letter which he addressed to a friend from 
the prison at Bristol, where he was incarcerated for 
debt, and so drearily terminated his eventful career, 
is a fine example of self-respect and elevation of sen- 
timent. Hunt justly remarks, in his notice of the 



RICHARD SAVAGE. 121 

once celebrated Mrs. Oldfield, that her annuity to 
Savage gave posterity a liking for her ; and Dr. 
Johnson assures us that the subject of his remarkable 
memoir, when banished from London, parted from 
him with tears in his eyes. 

Indeed the phases of character, and the actual 
experiences of Savage, if analysed and dramatically 
unfolded by a thoroughly sympathetic delineator, 
would afford a most fruitful theme. Imagine it 
handled by Dickens, in his best vein ; we should have 
night-wanderings as forlorn as those of little Xell and 
her grandfather, a trial scene more effective than that 
of Barnaby Rudge, jollities eclipsing those of Dick 
Swiveller, and reveries more grandly pathetic than the 
death-bed musings of Paul Dombey. Tor accessories 
his acknowledged relation to the nobility and his 
intimate association with the men of talent of the day 
would furnish ample scope, for so notorious was his 
story at the time, that Macaulay, in his " History of 
England," says that Earl Rivers is remembered chiefly 
on account of his illegitimate son ; and the Countess 
of Macclesfield, brazen as was her temper, was obliged 
to fly from Bath to escape the observation of fashion- 
able crowds induced by the satirical poem of Savage, 
called " The Bastard." 

Prompted by that love of excitement which 
becomes the ruling impulse of the improvident and 
forlorn, Savage went forth one night, from his obscure 
lodgings in search of profitable meditation, a boon 



122 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER : 

companion, or a lucky adventure. There was in his 
elongated and rough face a sad expression that indi- 
cated habitual melancholy — not the resigned air of 
meek endurance, nor the gravity of stern fortitude ; 
but that dark, brooding pensiveness which accompanies 
undisciplined passions and a desolate existence. 
There was, however, a redeeming dignity in his 
measured gait and an unsteady accent in his voice as 
he soliloquized, that would have " challenged pity" 
in a sensitive observer. 

He entered a tavern — an accustomed haunt, where 
conviviality had often beguiled him of " the thing he 
was." The sight of one or two familiar faces, and the 
anticipation of a jolly evening changed, at once, the 
mood of the homeless wit. That coarse exterior sud- 
denly wore a milder aspect ; that solemn air gave way 
to abandon; and, all at once, he looked like a man ready 
to "flit the time lightly" and "rouse the night-owl 
with a catch." It was thoughtfulness eclipsed by good 
fellowship, — Hamlet transformed into Sir Toby Belch. 
The carousal brought on the hour of feverish reaction, 
and the party at length sallied out to breathe the 
fresh air, and vent their superfluous merriment- 
Attracted by a light that gleamed from another house 
of entertainment, they entered, and unceremoniously 
disturbed a group already in possession. High words 
arose, swords were unsheathed, and when the morning 
dawned, Savage found himself a prisoner awaiting trial 
for murder. At this crisis of his fate, with the ban of 



RICHARD SAVAGE. 123 

the law impending, amid the solitude of captivity — 
how must the events of his life have passed, in gloomy 
succession, before his mind, and what desperate 
emotion the retrospect engendered! 

"We can scarcely imagine a more contradictory and 
pathetic story invented by fiction. The illegitimate 
offspring of a Countess and an Earl, brought up by a 
hireling, taken from St. Albans grammar-school in boy- 
hood, to be apprenticed to a shoemaker ; cut off by 
an infamous falsehood, from the inheritance assigned 
him by his father ; — accidentally discovering his birth 
only to become the object of relentless maternal per- 
secution ; with the loss of his nurse, cast adrift upon 
the world and forced into authorship to escape starva- 
tion, and now only with the prospect of an ignominious 
death incurred in a tavern brawl — what incentives his 
memory could furnish to remorse and despair ! His 
whole experience was anomalous. Of noble origin, 
yet the frequent associate of felons and paupers, with 
a mother for his most bitter enemy, and the slayer of 
one who never offended him ; long accustomed to 
luxury, yet finding his best comfort in a gaol ; 
conscious of superior abilities, yet habituated to 
degrading expedients ; his written life touching the 
hearts of thousands, while his actual condition 
annoyed more often than it interested ; the guest of 
a wealthy lord, the confidant of men of genius, the 
intimate of "Wilkes and Steele, and the cynosure of 
many select circles in London and Bristol, he some- 



124 THE LITERARY ADVENTURER. 

times famished for want of nourishment and " slept on 
bulks in summer and in glass-houses in the winter." 
Prom the king he received a pardon, after being con- 
demned to the gallows, and from a fashionable actress 
a pension ; the queen's volunteer-laureate, he died in 
a prison-cell, and was buried at the expense of the 
gaoler. The records of human vicissitude have few 
more painful episodes ; the plots of few tragedies boast 
more pathetic material ; and the legacies of genius, to 
those who explore them to analyse character and trace 
the influence of experience upon mental development, 
rarely offer the adventurous and melancholy interest 
that is associated with the name of Richard Savage. 
He is the type of reckless talent, the ideal of a literary 
vagabond, the synonym for an unfortunate wit. In 
his history the adventures of hack-writers reach their 
acme ; and his consciousness embraced the vital 
elements of dramatic experience — the internal light of 
fancy and reflection, and the external shade of appal- 
ling fact. 



THE VOCALIST: 

JENNY LIND. 



" Sure something holy lodges in that breast, 
And with mere rapture moves the vocal air, 
To testify its hidden residence. 
How sweetly did they float upon the wings 
Of Silence, through the empty- vaulted night, 
At every fall smoothing the raven down 
Of darkness till it smiled." — Comw. 



The Life of the North is to us a fresh revelation ; 
and, by a striking coincidence, one after another of 
its phases have come upon our transatlantic vision, in 
rapid succession. To many Americans Thorwaldsen 
was the only name associated with art, but a few 
years since ; and to those who had visited Some, the 
benign and venerable man was a vivid and pleasing 
reminiscence, appropriate to the idea of his grand 
apostolic figures, and the affectionate honour in which 
his native Denmark held their noble sculptor. But 
with Ole Bull fairly commenced our knowledge of 



126 THE VOCALIST : 

the genius of Xorthern Europe. The play of the 
wind through her forest of pines, the glint of her 
frozen streams, the tenderness of her households, and 
the soleinnitv of her faith, seemed to breathe in the 
wizard tones of his violin ; while her integrity was 
written in the form, the manners, and the very smile 
of the musician. Then the spirit of her literature 
began slowly to win its gentle but impressive way 
to the American heart. Longfellow's translation of 
Biskofs Tegner's "Children of the Lord's Supper,' "' 
with the graphic introduction descriptive of moral 
life in Sweden, touched the same chord in Tsew 
England breasts, that had vibrated to the religious 
pathos of Bryant, Dana, and Hawthorne ; while not 
a few readers became simultaneously aware of a brave 
Danish poet recently followed to the tomb by the 
people of Copenhagen, with every token of national 
grief. The dramas of (Ehlenschlager, from their 
union of familiar expression with the richest feeling, 
though but partially known in this country, awakened 
both curiosity and interest. Then, too, came to us 
the domestic novels of ALiss Bremer, portraying so 
heartily the life of home in Sweden, and appealing to 
the most universal sympathies of our people. Finally. 
Hans Andersen's delicious story-books veiling such 
fine imaginative powers under the guise of the ut- 
most simplicity, raised up for him scores of juvenile 
admirers, while children of a larger growth enjoyed 
the originality of his fictions with equal zest, as the 



JEXXY LIND. 127 

offspring of rare human sympathy and original inven- 
tion. The pictures wafted to our shores by the late 
revolutionary exigencies of the Continent, have often 
yielded glimpses of northern scenery. Norwegian 
forests, skies and mountains, attracted the eye at the 
Dusseldorf gallery; and thus through both art and 
literature, the simple, earnest, and poetic features of 
life in the north, were brought within the range of 
our consciousness. It developed unimagined affinities 
with our own ; and now, as it were, to complete and 
consecrate the revelation, we are to hear the vocal 
genius of Northern Europe — the Swedish nightingale, 
Jenny Lind, is coming ! 

From an unpretending edifice in one of the by- 
streets of the city of Stockholm in Sweden, a quarter 
of a century ago, a troop of children might have been 
seen to emerge, at noon, and break the silence that 
at other hours invested the place, with the lively 
chat and quick laughter natural to emancipated scho- 
lars. In a few moments they dispersed to their seve- 
ral homes, and early the next day were again visible, 
one by one, disappearing, with a more subdued bear- 
ing, within the portal of the humble domicile. 

Stockholm is justly regarded as the most elegant 
city of Northern Europe. It is situated at the junc- 
tion of the lake Malar with an inlet of the Baltic. 
Although usually described as founded on seven isles, 
it is, in point of fact, mainly situated on three ; the 
smallest and most central having been the original 



128 THE VOCALIST : 

site, and still constituting the most populous and 
active section. The irregularity of its form, and the 
blending of land and water, renders the appearance 
of the city remarkably picturesque. From the 
elevated points, besides the various buildings, craft 
of all kinds in motion and at anchor, numerous 
bridges and a fine background of mountains are dis- 
cernible, and combine to form a beautiful panorama. 
The royal palace is exceeded in magnificence only 
by that of Versailles. 

Through this busy and varied scene, on a pleasant 
day, there moved rapidly the carriage of one of those 
useful, though unrecognized beings, who seem born to 
appreciate the gifts which God so liberally dispenses, 
but whom the insensibility and selfishness of mankind, 
in general, permit to languish in obscurity until a for- 
tunate circumstance brings them to light. Some time 
previous, the good lady, in passing the seminary to 
which we have alluded, had been struck with the beauty 
of a child's voice that rose blithely from the dwelling. 
She was induced to alight and enter ; and her astonish- 
ment was only increased upon discovering that this 
cheerful song came from a diminutive girl, busied in 
arranging the schoolroom, during a temporary recess. 
She learned that this maiden was the daughter of the 
schoolmistress; and the somewhat restricted air of 
homely comfort visible in the establishment, and the 
tinge of severity in the manners of the mother, con- 
trasted forcibly in the lady's imagination with the 



JENNY LIND. 129 

apparently instinctive soaring of the child's spirit 
into the atmosphere of song, from her dim and for- 
mal surroundings, as the skylark lifts itself from a 
lowly nest among the dark weeds up to the crystal 
heavens. It was a sweet illustration of the law of 
compensation. 

The air the child was singing, as she busied herself 
about the room, was a simple native strain, quite fa- 
miliar and by no means difficult of execution ; it was 
the quality of the voice, the natural flow of the notes, 
the apparent ease, grace, and earnest sweetness of the 
little songstress, that gained the visitor's ear and 
heart ; and now she had come to urge upon the pa- 
rents the duty of affording every encouragement to 
develop a gift so rare and beautiful; she expressed 
her conviction that the child was born for a musical 
artist, and destined not only to redeem her parents 
from want, but to do honour to her country. This 
impression was deepened when she learned that this 
musical tendency manifested itself as early as the age 
of three, and that the little girl had long awakened 
the wonder of the family by repeating accurately even 
intricate airs, after having heard them but once ; that 
she had thus sung habitually, spontaneously, and 
seemed to find of her own volition, a peculiar con- 
solation in the act for the dry routine of her life, 
though from without, not a single circumstance gave 
any impulse or direction to this vocal endowment. 

She exhibited also to the just perception of Madame 

K 



130 THE VOCALIST : 

Lundberg, herself a celebrated Swedish actress, as 
well as a benevolent woman, the usual conditions 
of genius, in backward physical growth, precocious 
mental vigour, and mature sensibilities. The latter, 
indeed, were so active, that her mother, and even 
her kind adviser doubted if she possessed sufficient 
energy of character for so trying a profession as that 
of an artist ; and this consideration, added to the pre- 
judice of the parents against a public, and especially 
a theatrical career, for a time, chilled the hopes of 
the enthusiastic patroness. At length, however, their 
consent was obtained that the experiment should be 
tried, and the diffident little girl, only accustomed to 
domestic privacy, but with a new and strange hope 
wildly fluttering in her bosom, was taken to Croe- 
lius — a veteran music-master of Stockholm ; who was 
so delighted with her rare promise that one day he 
led her to the house of Count Pucke, then director 
of the court theatre. Her reception, however, did 
not correspond with the old man's desires ; for the 
nobleman coldly inquired what he was expected to do 
with such a child ? It must be confessed that the 
absence of beauty and size did not, at the first glance, 
create any high anticipations in behalf of the demure 
maiden. Croelius, though disappointed, was quite 
undismayed ; he entreated the director to hear her 
sing, and declared his purpose to teach her gratui- 
tously, if he could in no other way secure the cultiva- 
tion of her voice and talents. This earnestness 



JENNY LIXD. 131 

induced the count to listen with attention and 
candour; and the instant she had finished, he ex- 
claimed, " She shall have all the advantages of the 
Stockholm Academy!" Such was Jenny Lind's in- 
itiation into the life of an artist. 

She now began regularly to appear on the stage, 
and was soon an adept in juvenile parts. She proved 
widely attractive in vaudevilles, which were written 
expressly for her ; and it is remarkable that the charm 
did not lie so much in the precocious intelligence, as 
in the singular geniality of the little actress. Nature 
thus early asserted her dominion. There was an 
indefinable human interest, a certain original vein 
that universally surprised and fascinated, while it took 
from the child the eclat of a mere infant phenomenon, 
by bringing her from the domain of vulgar wonder 
into the range of that refined sympathy one touch of 
which "makes the whole world kin." In a year 
Croelius reluctantly gave up his pupil to Berg, who 
to kindred zeal united far more energy ; and by him 
she was inducted thoroughly into the elements of her 
art. 

Probation is quite as essential to the time develop- 
ment of art as encouragement. The eager, impas- 
sioned, excitable temperament needs to be chastened, 
the recklessness of self-confidence awed, and that 
sublime patience induced through which reliable and 
tranquil energy takes the place of casual and un- 
sustained activity. By nature Jenny Lind was 



132 THE VOCALIST : 

thoughtful and earnest, disposed to silence, and in- 
stinctively reserved ; while the influence of her early 
home was to subdue far more than to exhilarate. 
The change in her mode of life and prospects was so 
unexpected, her success as a juvenile prodigy so 
brilliant, and the universal social favour she enjoyed, 
on account of the winsome amiability of her charac- 
ter, so fitted to elate a youthful heart, that we cannot 
but regard it as one of the many providential events 
of her career, that just at the critical moment when 
the child was losing herself in the maiden, and nature 
and education were ultimately shaping her artistic 
powers, an unexpected impediment was allowed to 
check her already too rapid advancement; and a 
pause, sad enough at the time, but fraught with en- 
during benefit, gave her occasion to discipline and 
elevate her soul, renew her overtasked energies, and 
plume her wings for flights more sustained and lofty. 

Yet, while thus aware of the utility of her trial, 
we can easily imagine its bitterness. The loss of 
a gift of nature through which a human being has 
learned to find both the solace and the inspiration of 
existence, upon which the dearest hopes were founded, 
and by which the most glorious triumphs were achieved, 
is one of those griefs few can realize. Eaphael's gentle 
heart bled when feebleness unnerved the hand that 
guided the pencil to such lovely issues, and big tears 
rolled down Scott's manly cheek when he strove in 
vain to go on with his latest composition. How 



JENNY LIND. 133 

desolate then must that young aspirant for the honour, 
and the delights of the vocal art, have felt when 
suddenly deprived of her voice ! The dream of her 
youth was broken in a moment. The charm of her 
being faded like a mist ; and the star of hope that had 
thus far beamed serenely on her path, grew dim in 
the cold twilight of disappointment — keen, entire and 
apparently irremediable. This painful condition was 
aggravated by the fact that her age now rendered it 
out of the question to perform childish parts, while it 
did not authorize those of a mature character. 

The circumstances, too, of her failure were singularly 
trying. She was announced to appear as Agatha in 
"Weber's " Frieschutz" — a character she had long re- 
garded as that in which her ability would be genially 
tested. To it her young ambition had long pointed, 
and with it her artistic sympathies were familiarly 
identified. The hour came, and that wonderful and 
delicate instrument — that as a child she had governed 
so adroitly, that it seemed the echo of her mind ; — 
that subtle medium through which her feelings had 
been wont to find such ready and full vent, refused 
to obey her will, yielded not to the pleadings of love 
or ambition ; was hushed as by some cruel magic — 
and Jenny Lind was mute, with anguish in her bosom ; 
her friends looking on in tearful regret, and her 
maestro chagrined beyond description! Where had 
those silvery tones fled? What catastrophe had all 
at once loosened those invisible harp strings ? The 
splendid vision of fame, of bounteous pleasure, of 



134 THE VOCALIST : 

world-excited sympathy, and of triumphant art, dis- 
appeared like the gorgeous cities seen by the traveller, 
from the Straits of Messina, painted in tinted vapour 
on the horizon. 

Jenny Lind ceased to sing, but her love of art was 
deepened, her trust in nature unshaken, her simplicity 
and kindliness as real as before. Tour long years she 
lived without the rich promise that had invested her 
childhood; but, with undiminished force of purpose, 
she studied the art for which she felt herself born, with 
patient, acute, earnest assiduity, and then another, 
and blissful episode rewarded her quiet heroism. The 
fourth act of " Eobert le Diable " had been announced 
for a special occasion ; and it so happened that in con- 
sequence of the insignificant role of Alice, consisting 
of a single solo, no one of the regular singers was 
disposed to adopt the character. In this emergency, 
Berg was reminded of his unfortunate pupil. She 
meekly consented to appear, pleased with an oppor- 
tunity to be useful, and oblige her kind maestro. 

While practising this solo, to the delight and asto- 
nishment of both teacher and pupil, the long-lost voice 
suddenly re-appeared. It seemed as if Nature had 
only withdrawn the gift for a season, that her child 
might gather strength and wisdom to use it efficiently, 
and in an unselfish spirit ; and then restored it as a 
deserved recompense for the resignation and truth 
with which the deprivation had been borne. "We can 
fancy the rapturous emotions of the gentle votary 
that night, when she retired from the scene of her 



JENNY LIND. 135 

new and unanticipated triumph. The occasion has 
been aptly compared to the memorable third act of 
the " Merchant of Venice" on the evening of Kean's 
debut at Drury Lane. Jenny Lind immediately re- 
verted to her cherished ideal part — that of Agatha. 
She was now sixteen years of age — her character 
rendered firm by discipline, her love of music deep- 
ened by more comprehensive views and a better in- 
sight, and her whole nature warmed and softened by 
the realization of the fondest and earliest hopes, long 
baffled, yet consistently cherished. The most expe- 
rienced actors were struck with wonder at the facility 
and perfection of her dramatic style ; in this, as in 
her vocalism, was, at once, recognized that peculiar 
truth to nature which constitutes the perfection of 
art — that unconsciousness of self and circumstance, 
and that fresh idea of character, at once so uncom- 
mon and so delightful. She drew the orchestra after 
her by her bold yet true execution ; and seemed pos- 
sessed with the genius of the composer as well as 
with the idiosyncrasies of the character she sung, so 
complete and individual was the result. 

Already the idol of her native city, and the hope of 
the Swedish stage, her own ideas of art and aims as an 
artist remained unchanged. Her first desire was to 
seek the instruction of Garcia, with a view to perfect 
her method and subdue some vocal difficulties. She 
gracefully acknowledged the social homage and the- 
atrical distinction awarded her; but these were but 



136 THE VOCALIST : 

incidental to a great purpose. She had a nobler am- 
bition to satisfy, a higher ideal to realize, and pressed 
on her still obstructed way, unallured by the plea- 
sures of the moment and undismayed by the distance 
of the goal. In order to obtain the requisite means 
for a sojourn at Paris, she made excursions through 
Norway and Sweden, with her father, during the 
vacations of the theatre, to give concerts, and when 
sufficient had thus been acquired, she obtained leave 
of absence from the Stockholm director, and left 
home for Paris, notwithstanding the dissuasion of 
her parents. They confided, however, as before, in 
her own sense of right ; and she hastened to place 
herself under the instruction of G-arcia. 

Here another keen disappointment subdued her re- 
viving hopes. At the first trial, her new teacher said : 
" My child, you have no voice ; do not sing a note for 
three months, and then come and resume again." 
Once more she wrapped herself in the mantle of 
patience, went into studious retirement, and, at the 
prescribed time, again returned to G-arcia, whose cheer- 
ing words now were, " My child, you can begin your 
lessons immediately." Simple words, indeed, but more 
welcome to that ardent child of song, intent on pro- 
gress in the art she loved, than the wildest plaudits. 
She returned with an elastic step, and entered with 
joyful enthusiasm upon her artistic career. Meyer- 
beer immediately offered her an engagement at Ber- 
lin. The consummate skill of her teacher, and her 



JENNY LIXD. 137 

own enlarged experience and high resolves, made 
her advancement rapid and genuine. Thenceforth a 
series of musical triumphs unexcelled in the history 
of the lyrical drama, attended the life of Jenny Lind. 
We might repeat countless anecdotes of the universal 
admiration and profound sympathy she excited at 
Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Bremen, Munich, Aix la 
Chapelle, and, indeed, wherever her voice was heard 
on the stage and at concerts. The testimonies of the 
highest private regard, and public appreciation, were 
lavished upon her in the shape of costly gifts, wreaths 
of silver, poetic tributes, philosophical criticisms, the 
breathless silence or overwhelming applause of en- 
tranced multitudes, and all the signs of enthusiastic 
delight at the advent of a true child of nature and 
of song. To us the record of her two visits to England 
are yet vivid, and it is needless to reiterate the ex- 
traordinary demonstrations which there attested her 
singular merits, and unequalled attractiveness. 

The population of Berlin and Vienna assembled at 
midnight to bid her adieu ; and when she last left her 
native city, every ship in the harbour was manned and 
every quay crowded to see her embark in the presence 
of the queen. Nor are these spontaneous tributes to 
be exclusively ascribed to the love of novelty and the 
excitement of renown. Heroes and heroines the 
world cannot do without, unless it lapses into frigid 
and selfish materialism ; admiration for talent and 
sympathy with genius are but human instincts. It is 



138 THE VOCALIST : 

seldom, however, that these sentiments are upheld 
and sanctioned by reverence for worth. Therefore is 
it beautiful to witness the voluntary oblations which 
attend the great artist whose expression, however 
eloquent, is the true manifestation of a pure, noble, 
and disinterested spirit. It is not Jenny Lind in her 
personality, but as a priestess of art, an interpreter of 
humanity, a gifted and loyal expositor of feelings, that 
lends grace to life and elevation to the soul, that draws 
the common heart toward her with such frank and 
ardent gratulation. Her well-known and unostenta- 
tious charities, her simplicity of life, her sympathy 
with her fellow-creatures, and unaffected manners, 
so accord with the glorious art she so rarely illustrates 
as to justify to reflection the impulsive admiration she 
excites. 

It is not in sublimity that Jenny Lind excels ; and 
whatever excellence her Norma may possess, it is 
not of that characteristic species which renders her 
impersonations of " La Figlia del Eegimento," of Alice, 
of Lucia, and of Amina, so memorable. In the former 
character she makes innocent play through the rude 
habits acquire din the camp, in a way so exquisite as 
to enchant as by the spell of reality. In the " Bride 
of Lammermoor," there is a melancholy beauty which 
haunts the listener. It is her greatest tragic part. 
The pathos of the third act seems re-produced from 
the very genius which created the romance. Her 
Amina is Bellini's ; and this is saying all that praise 



JENNY LIND. 139 

can utter. "We may realize her versatility by com- 
paring the comic jealousy so archly displayed in the 
" Noces de Figaro," with the tenderness of the sleep- 
walking scene in "La Somnanibula." It has been well 
observed of her that, in the former opera, " she adheres 
to the genius of Mozart with a modest appreciation of 
the genius of that master " — a commendation as high 
as it is rare. One of the most remarkable traits of 
her artistic skill is its exquisite and wonderful discri- 
mination — a quality no description can make obvious. 
The peculiar charm of Jenny Lind, as an artist, is 
her unconsciousness. "We are disposed to regard 
this as one of the most reliable tests of superior gifts. 
It at least proves the absorption of self in what is 
dearer — a condition essential to all true greatness. 
The most acute observers of this beautiful vocalist 
fail to detect the slightest reference either to her 
audience or herself while engaged in a part. For 
the time being her very existence seems identified 
with the character she represents ; it is the after- 
thought, not the impression of the moment that 
brings us to the artist; infected by the complete 
realization of the scene, we think of it alone; and 
only when it has passed away do we become aware 
that the genius of another has, as it were, incarnated 
a story or a sentiment before us, through will, sym- 
pathy and talent. The process is quite as unthought 
of as that by which a masterpiece of painting or 
sculpture has been executed, when we stand before it 



140 THE VOCALIST : 

rapt in that harmonious spell that permits no analysis 
and suggests no task-work, any more than the land- 
scape of summer, or the effulgence of a star. "We 
feel only the presence of the beautiful, the advent of 
a new creation, the irresistible appeal to the highest 
instincts of the soul. 

Carlyle says "the unconscious is the alone com- 
plete" — an aphorism which Jenny Lind robs of all 
mystery ; for her superiority consists in the wholeness 
and unity of her effects, and this is produced by a kind 
of self-surrender, such as we rarely see except in two 
of the most genuine phases of humanity — genius and 
childhood ; in this tendency they coalesce ; and hence 
the freshness that lingers around the richly endowed 
nature, and the universal faith which it inspires. The 
secret is that such characters have never wandered far 
from nature; they have kept within sight of that "im- 
mortal sea that brought us hither ;" they constitute an 
aristocracy spontaneously recognized by all ; and they 
triumph as poets, artists, and influential social beings, 
not through the exercise of any rare and wonderful 
gift, but from obedience to the simple laws of truth — 
to the primal sympathies, and to a kind of innate and 
glorious confidence which lifts them above ignoble 
fear and selfish tricks. The true hero, poet, artist, 
the true man or woman, who seem to the multitude to 
be peculiarly endowed, differ from those who do them 
voluntary homage, chiefly in this unconsciousness of 
self; this capacity to be ever "nobler than their 



JENNY LIND. 141 

moods ;" this sympathetic breadth of life that enables 
them to go forth with a kind of elemental power 
and enter into other forms of being : the principle of 
their existence is faith, not dexterity ; sentiment, not 
calculation. 

It will be seen that we recognise a moral basis as 
the source of Jenny Lind's fascination; and if we 
were obliged to define this in a single word, perhaps 
the lexicon would furnish none so expressive as the 
homely one — truth. But we use it as significant of 
far more than the absence of falsehood ; we mean by 
it candour, trust, spontaneity, directness. "We be- 
lieve that Jenny Lind inspires sympathy in spite of 
her petite figure, not altogether because she warbles 
enchantingly, and has amiable manners, but also on 
account of the faith she at once excites. We per- 
ceive that love of approbation is not her ruling im- 
pulse, although her profession might excuse it; but 
that she has an ideal of her own, an artistic con- 
science, a love of art, a musical ministry to satisfy 
and accomplish, and that these considerations induce 
a nobler ambition than co-exists with mere vanity. 
It is said that the remarkable novel of " Consuelo," r by 
George Sand, is founded on the character and history 
of Jenny Lind. "Whether this be so or not, the 
theory of the tale, the guileless devotion to art as 
such, which stamps the heroine with such exalted 
grace, finds a parallel in this famed vocalist of the 
North ; the same singleness of purpose and intact 



142 THE VOCALIST : 

clearness of soul, the same firm will and gentle heart 
are evident. Much, too, of her success is attributable 
to the philosophy of Consuelo's maestro — that to reach 
the highest excellence in Art, the affections as well as 
the mind must be yielded at her shrine. There is a 
subtle and deep relation between feeling and expres- 
sion, and the biographies of those who have achieved 
renown in the latter, under any of its artistic forms, 
indicate that it has embodied that within them that 
found no adequate response in actual life. 

The highest efforts of the poet and musician, are con- 
fessedly the result of baffled or overflowing emotion ; 
disguised, perhaps, as to the form, but clearly evident 
in the tone of their productions. Mozart and Raphael, 
Bryant and Paganini, have illustrated this most 
emphatically. Jenny Lind seems to have kept her 
better feelings alive by the habitual exercise of bene- 
volence, and a diffusive friendliness, while her con- 
centrated and earnest activity finds utterance in her 
art. Hence the sway she has gained over countless 
hearts, each absorbed in its own dream or shadowed 
by its own regrets, that glow again in the kindling 
atmosphere of song, which gushes from a soul over 
which no overmastering passion has yet cast a gloom, 
and whose transparent waters no agitation of con- 
flicting desires has ever made turbid and restless. 
Jenny Lind has been a priestess at the shrine of Art, 
and therefore interprets its oracles "as one having 
authority." 



JEXXY LIXD. 143 

In this country the idea of fashion and the mere 
relish of amusement, have blended so exclusively 
with the support of the Opera, that we seldom realize 
its artistic relations and influence. The taste for 
the Italian Opera seems to have extended in the 
ratio of civilization ; and although it is, after all, an 
exotic among the Anglo-Saxons — a pleasure born in 
the " sweet South," and in its very richness of com- 
bination, suggestive of the impassioned feeling and 
habitual luxury of those climes — yet, on the other 
hand, it is typical of the complex life, wants and 
tendencies of modern society. The old English tragic 
drama, robust, fierce-hearted and unadorned, has 
faded before it ; the theatre as a reunion of wits, 
and an arena for marvellous histrionic effects, as a 
subject of elegant criticism, and a nucleus for uni- 
versal sympathy, may be said not to exist ; while 
the Opera has become the scene of display, elegance 
and pleasure, and of the highest triumphs. 

The sentiment of the age has written itself in music 
—its wide intelligence, its keen analysis, its revolution- 
ary spirit, its restlessness, and its humanity, may be 
traced in the rich and brilliant combinations of Eossini, 
in the grand symphonies of Beethooven, in the pleading 
tenderness of Bellini, and in the mingled war-notes and 
sentiment of Verdi. The demand for undisguised 
and free expression, characteristic of the times, finds 
also its requisite scope in .the lyrical drama. Eeci- 
tation is too tame, pantomime too silent, scenic art 



144 THE VOCALIST : 

too illusive, costume too familiar, music too unpic- 
turesque; but all these combined are, at once, as 
romantic, exciting, impressive, and melo-dramatic as 
the varied aptitudes, the exacting taste, and the broad, 
experimental genius of the age. The gifts of nature, 
the resources of art, the gratification of the senses, 
the exigencies of fashion and taste, and the wants of 
the heart and imagination find in the Opera a most 
convenient luxury. The lyrical drama has thus 
gradually usurped the place of tournament and the- 
atre ; it is a social as well as an artistic exponent 
of the day ; and those who have best illustrated it 
are justly regarded as public benefactors. Pew, 
however, have ministered in this temple, with the art- 
less grace, the pure enthusiasm, the glory of Jenny 
Lind. The daughters of the South, ardent and sus- 
ceptible, but capricious and extravagant, heretofore 
won its chief honours ; their triumphs have been great 
but spasmodic, gained by impulse rather than nature, 
by glorious gifts of person rather than rare graces of 
soul. 

Jenny Lind, with her fair hair and blue eyes, 
her unqueenly form, and child-like simplicity, has 
achieved almost unparalleled success, by means quite 
diverse. Her one natural gift is a voice of singular 
depth, compass, flexibility and tone. This has been, 
if we may be allowed the expression, mesmerized by 
a soul, earnest, pure and sincere ; and thus with the 
clear perception and dauntless will of the North 



JEXNY LIXD. 145 

has she interpreted the familiar musical dramas in 
a new, vivid, and original manner. One would 
imagine she had come with one bound from tending 
her flock on the hill-side, to warble behind the foot- 
lights ; for so directly from the heart of nature 
springs her melody, and so beyond the reach of art 
is the simple grace of her air and manners, that we 
associate her with the Opera only through the con- 
summate skill — the result of scientific training — 
manifested in her vocalism. The term warbling is 
thus adapted peculiarly to express the character of 
her style; its ease, fluency, spontaneous gush, and 
the total absence of every thing meretricious and 
exaggerated in the action and bearing that accom- 
panies it. It is like the song of a bird, only more 
human. Nature in her seems to have taken Art to 
her bosom, and assimilated it, through love, with 
herself, until the identity of each is lost in the 
other. 

The union of such musical science — such thoroughly 
disciplined art with such artlessness and simplicity, 
is, perhaps, the crowning mystery of her genius. To 
know and to love are the conditions of triumph in 
all the exalted spheres of human labour ; and in the 
musical drama, they have never been so admirably 
united. Her command of expression seems not so 
much the result of study as of inspiration ; and there 
is about her a certain gentle elevation which stamps 
her to every eye, as one who is consecrated to a high 

L 



146 THE VOCALIST : 

service. Her ingenuous countenance, always en- 
livened by an active intelligence, might convey, at 
first, chiefly the idea of good-nature and cleverness 
in the English sense; but her carriage, voice, move- 
ments, and expression in the more affecting moments 
of a drama, give sympathetic assurance of what we 
must be excused for calling — a crystal soul. In all 
her characters she transports us, at once, away from 
the commonplace and the artificial — if not always into 
the domain of lofty idealism, into that more human 
and blissful domain of primal nature ; and unhappy 
is the being who finds not the unconscious delight of 
childhood, or the dream of love momentarily renewed 
in that serene and unclouded air. 

In accordance with this view of Jenny Lind's 
characteristics, the enthusiasm she excited in Eng- 
land is alluded to by the leading critics as singularly 
honest. No musical artist, indeed, was ever so fitted 
to win Anglo-Saxon sympathies. She has the morale 
of the North; and does not awaken the prejudice 
so common in Great Britain, and so truly described 
in " Corinne," against the passionate temperament and 
tendency to extravagance that mark the children of 
the South. No candidate for public favour was ever 
so devoid of the ordinary means of attaining it. 
There is something absurd in making such a creature 
the mere nucleus of fashionable vanity, or the object 
of that namby-pamby criticism that busies itself with 
details of personal appearance and Erench terms of 



JEXXY LIXD. 147 

compliment. Jeuny Lind is not beautiful ; she does 
not take her audiences by storm; she exercises no 
intoxicating physical magnetism over their sensitive 
natures. She is not classic either in form or feature, 
or manner, or style of singing. Her loveliness as a 
woman, her power as an artist, her grace as ;i 
character, lies in expression; and that expression 
owes its variety and its enchantment to unaffected 
truth to nature, sentiment and the principles of art. 



THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS: 

GIACOMO LEOPAEDI. 



Provincial life in Italy can scarcely be realized by 
an American except through observation. However 
remote from cities, or sequestered in location, may 
be a town in this country, if not connected with the 
great world by railroad and telegraph, the newspaper, 
the political representative, and an identity of feel- 
ing and action in some remote enterprise or inte- 
rest, keep alive mutual sympathy and intelligence. 
But a moral and social as well as physical isolation 
belongs to the minor towns of the Italian peninsula. 
The quaint old stone houses enclose beings whose 
existence is essentially monastic, whose knowledge is 
far behind the times, and whose feelings are rigidly 
confined within the limits of family and neighbour- 
hood. A more complete picture of still life in the 
nineteenth century, it is difficult to imagine, than 
many of these secluded towns present. The dilapi- 
dated air of the palaces, the sudden gloom of the 



THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS. 149 

narrow streets, as one turns into them from the square, 
where a group of idlers in tattered cloaks are ever 
engaged in a game or a gossip, the electrical effect of 
a travelling-carriage, or a troop of soldiers invading 
the quiet scene, at once inform even the casual visitor 
of the distance he is at from the spirit of the age. 
With the decayed air of the private houses, their worn 
brick floors and primitive furniture, contrast impres- 
sively the extensive and beautiful view usually ob- 
tainable from the highest windows, and the architec- 
tural magnificence of the church. We are constantly 
reminded that modern amelioration has not yet in- 
vaded the region; while the petty objects to which 
even the better class are devoted, the importance 
attached to the most frivolous details of life, the con- 
fined views and microscopic jealousies, or dilettante 
tastes that prevail, assure us that liberal curiosity and 
enlarged sympathy find but little scope in these 
haunts of a nation devoid of civil life, and thrust upon 
the past for mental nourishment. 

It is, however, comparatively easy to imagine the 
influence of such an environment upon a superior in- 
telligence. Recoiling from the attempt to find satis- 
faction in the external, thus repressed and deadened, 
the scholar would there naturally turn to written lore 
with a singular intensity of purpose ; the aspirant 
would find little to tempt him from long and sustained 
flights into the ideal world; and the thinker would 
eling to abstract truth with an energy more fond and 



150 THE SCEPTICAL GEXIUS : 

concentrated from the very absence of all motive and 

scope for action and utterance. It is thus that we 

account, in part, for the remarkable individuality and 

lonely career of Griacomo Leopardi, one of the greatest 

scholars and men of genius modern Italy has produced. 

He has left a glimpse of this monotonous and unge- 

nial life in one of his poems — La Vita Solitaria : — 

" La mattutina pioggia, allor che l'al 
Battendo esulta nella cMusa stanza 
Le gallinella ed al balcon s'affaccia 
L'abitator de'carnpi. e il Sol che nasce 
I suoi tremuli rai fra le eadenti 
Stille saetta, alia capanna mia 
Dolcemente picchiando, mi risveglia ; 
E soi'go, e i lievi nugoletti, e il primo 
Degli augelli susurro, e 1' aura fresca. 
E le ridenti piagge benedico ; 
Poiche voi, cittadine infauste rnura, 
Yidi e conobbi assai, la dove segue 
Odio al dolor conipagno ; e doloroso 
Lo vivo, e tal moiTo, deh tosto ! Alcuna 
Benche scai'sa pieta pur mi dimostra 
Xatura in questi lochia un giomo oh quanto 
Verso me piu cortere." 

Leopardi was the son of a count, whose estates 
are situated at Eecanti, in the March of Ancona, and 
here his early youth was passed chiefly in his father's 
library, which consisted wholly of theological and 
classical books. After being taught Latin and the 
elements of philosophy by two priests, he seems to 
have been left to pursue his own course ; and, at ten 
years old, he describes himself as having commenced 
a wild and desperate life of study, the result of which 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 151 

was a mastery of ancient classic and church literature, 
not only displayed in positive knowledge, but repro- 
duced habitually in the form of translations and com- 
mentaries. Greek is not cultivated in Italy, and in 
this, as well as other branches of learning, he was 
quite isolated. In seven years his health was com- 
pletely ruined by unremitted mental application. 
Niebuhr and Angelo Mai soon recognised him as a 
philologist of remarkable acumen and attainment ; and 
laudatory articles in the French, Grerman, and Holland 
journals, as well as complimentary letters from distin- 
guished men, found their way to his secluded home. 
He duped scholars by tricks like those of Macpherson 
and Chatterton, in the pretended translations of an 
Hellenic fragment ; he engaged in a literary corre- 
spondence with Monti and Grioberti ; wrote able com- 
mentaries on the rhetoricians of the first and second 
centuries, annotations on the chronicle of Eusebius ; 
invented new narratives of martyrdoms that passed 
for genuine ; translated parts of the Odyssey, Epic- 
tetus, and Socrates ; and, in fact, performed Herculean 
labours of research and criticism. 

But the most remarkable feature of his life is the 
contrast between its profound scholarship and its 
domestic environment. During this period, Leopardi 
was treated like a child, kept at home by poverty, 
utterly destitute of companionship, except what he 
found in an occasional disputation with the Jews of 
Ancona ; wretched in appearance, consumed by melan- 



152 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

choly, struggling with his father against the project to 
dedicate him to the church ; without sympathy from 
his kind, or faith in his Creator, or joy in his youth, or 
hope in his destiny. He only found temporary solace 
when consciousness was absorbed in his studious 
vigils, in the solitary library of a forlorn palace in 
that secluded town. Such is an epitome of Leopardi's 
youth. Of his works thus produced, there are but 
few and imperfect copies, many being still unedited; 
and his peculiar genius would be faintly revealed to 
us, had it not found more direct and personal expres- 
sion in a few sincere and highly finished original 
writings, which shadow forth and embody, with singu- 
lar eloquence, the life and the nature of the man. 

Leopardi was born at Becanti, on the twenty-ninth 
of June, 1798, and died at Naples, on the fourteenth 
of June, 1837. The restraint under which he lived, 
partly that of circumstances, and partly of authority, 
both exerted upon a morbidly sensitive and lonely 
being, kept him in his provincial birthplace until the 
age of twenty-four. After this period he sought a pre- 
carious subsistence in Home, Florence, Bologna, and 
Naples. Of the conscious aim he proposed to himself as 
a scholar, we may judge by his own early declaration : 
" Mediocrity frightens me : my wish is to love and 
become great by genius and study." In regard to the 
first desire, he seems, either from an unfortunate per- 
sonal appearance, or from having been in contact with 
the insincere and the vain, to have experienced a bitter 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 153 

disappointment ; for the craving for sympathy, and 
the praise of love continually find expression in his 
writings, while he says of women, " L'ambizione, 
l'interesso, la perfidia, l'insensibilita delle donne che 
io definisco un animale sensa cuore, sono cose che mi 
spaventano." He translated with great zest, the 
satire of Samonides on women. Elsewhere, however, 
there is evinced a remarkable sensibility to female 
attractions, and indications appear of gratified, though 
interrupted affinities. Indeed, we cannot but perceive 
that Leopardi belongs to that rare class of men whose 
great sense of beauty and "necessity of loving" is 
united with an equal passion for truth. It was not, 
therefore, because his taste was too refined, or his 
standard too ideal, that his affections were baflled, but 
on account of the extreme rarity of that sacred union 
of loveliness and loyalty, of grace and candour, of the 
beautiful and the true, which, to the thinker and the 
man of heart, alone justifies the earnestness of love. 

Nature vindicated herself, as she ever will, even in 
his courageous attempt to merge all youthful impulse 
in the pursuit of knowledge, and twine around 
abstract trutli the clhiimia: sensibilities that covet a 
human object. He became, indeed, a master of lore, 
he lived a scholar, he kept apart from the multitude, 
and enacted the stoical thinker ; but the ungratified 
portion of his soul bewailed her bereavement ; from 
his harvest-fields of learning went up the cry of 
famine : a melancholy tone blended with his most 



154 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

triumphant expositions ; and an irony, that ill con- 
ceals moral need, underlies his most vivacious utter- 
ance. 

In his actual life, Leopardi confesses himself to 
have been greatly influenced by prudential motives. 
There was a reserve in his family intercourse, which 
doubtless tended to excite his thoughts and feelings to 
a greater private scope ; and he accordingly sought in 
fancy and reflection a more bold expansion. His 
scepticism has been greatly lamented as the chief 
source of his hopelessness ; and the Jesuits even ven- 
tured to assert his final conversion, so important did 
they regard the accession of such a gifted name to the 
roll of the church ; but his friend, Ranieri, in whose 
arms he died, only tells us that he "resigned his 
exalted spirit with a smile." He presents another 
instance of the futility of attempting to graft religious 
belief externally, and by prescriptive means, upon a 
free, inquiring, and enthusiastic mind. Christianity, 
as practically made known to Leopardi, failed to enlist 
his sympathies, from the erroneous form in which it 
was revealed, while, speculatively, its authority seemed 
to have no higher sanction than the antique philosophy 
and fables with which he was conversant. Had he 
learned to consider religion as a sentiment, inevitable 
and divine ; had he realized it in the same way as he did 
love — as an experience, a feeling, a principle of the soul, 
and not a technical system, it would have yielded him 
both comfort and inspiration. 



GIACOMO LEOPAKDI. 155 

Deformed, with the seeds of decay in his very 
frame, familiar with the history, the philosophy, 
the languages, of the earth, reflective and suscep- 
tible, loving and lonely, erudite, but without a faith, 
young in years, but venerable in mental life, he 
found nothing, in the age of transition in which he 
lived, to fix and harmonize his nature. His parent 
was incapable of comprehending the mind he sought 
to control. Sympathy with Greece and Rome, com- 
passion for Italy and despair of himself, were the 
bitter fruits of knowledge unillumined by supernal 
trust. He says the inesplicabile mistero dell himverso 
weighed upon his soul. He longed to solve the problem 
of life, and tried to believe, with Byron, that " every- 
thing is naught " —tutto e nulla; and wrote la calamitd 
e la sola cosa die viconvenga essendo virtuoso. Nostra vita, 
he asks, die vail solo a spregiarla. He thought too 
much to be happy without a centre of light about 
which his meditations could hopefully revolve ; he felt 
too much to be tranquil without some reliable and 
endeared object to which he might confidently turn 
for solace and recognition. The facts of his existence 
are meagre ; the circle of his experience limited, and 
his achievements as a scholar give us no clue to his 
inward life ; but the two concise volumes of prose and 
verse are a genuine legacy ; a reflection of himself 
amply illustrative to the discriminating reader. 

As regards the diction of Leopardi, it partakes of 
the superiority of his mind and the individuality of his 



156 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

character. Versed, as he was, both in the vocabulary 
and the philosophy of ancient and modern languages, 
he cherished the highest appreciation of his native 
tongue, of which he said it was sempre infinita. He 
wrote slowly, and with great care. In poetry, his 
first conception was noted, at once, and born in an 
access of fervour ; but he was employed, at intervals, 
for weeks, in giving the finishing touches to the 
shortest piece. It is, indeed, evident that Leopardi 
gave to his deliberate compositions the essence, as it 
were, of his life. No one would imagine his poems? 
except from their lofty and artistic style, to be the 
effusions of a great scholar, so simple, true, and appa- 
rently unavoidable are the feelings they embody. It 
is this union of severe discipline and great erudition 
with the glow, the directness, and the natural senti- 
ment of a young poet, that constitutes the distinction 
of Leopardi. The reflective power, and the predomi- 
nance of the thoughtful element in his writings, assi- 
milate him rather with German and English than 
modern Italian literature. There is nothing desultory 
and superficial ; vigour of thought, breadth and accu- 
racy of knowledge, and the most serious feeling cha- 
racterize his works. 

His taste was manly, and formed altogether on the 
higher models ; in terse energy he often resembles 
Dante ; in tender and pensive sentiment, Petrarch ; 
in philosophical tone, he manifested the Anglo-Saxon 
spirit of inquiry and psychological tendency of Bacon 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 157 

and Coleridge ; thus singularly combining the poetic 
and the erudite, gay research and fanciful speculation, 
grave wisdom and exuberant love. Of late Italian 
writers, perhaps no one more truly revives the roman- 
tic associations of her literature ; for Leopardi "learned 
in suffering what he taught in song," as exclusively as 
the " grim Tuscan" who described the world of spirit ; 
his life was shadowed by a melancholy not less per- 
vading than that of Tasso ; and, since Laura's bard, 
no poet of the race has sung of love with a more 
earnest beauty. He has been well said to have passed 
a "life of thought with sorrow beside him." The 
efflorescence of that life is concentrated in his verse, 
comparatively limited in quantity, but proportionally 
intense in expression ; and the views, impressions, 
fancies, and ideas generated by his studies and expe- 
rience, we may gather from his prose, equally concise 
in form and individual in spirit. From these authentic- 
sources, Ave will now endeavour to infer the character- 
istics of his genius. 

His faith, or rather his want of faith, in life and 
human destiny, is clearly betrayed in his legend, or 
allegory, called Storia del Geneve Umano. According to 
this fable, Jove created the world infinitely less perfect 
than it now exists, with obvious limits, undiversified 
by water and mountains ; and over it man roved with- 
out impediment, childlike, truthful, and living wholly 
in the immediate. Upon emerging from this adolescent 
condition, however, the race, wearied by the monotony 



158 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

and obvious bounds to their power and enjoyment, 
grew dissatisfied. Satiety took the place of content- 
ment, and many grew desperate, loathing the existence 
in which they originally rejoiced. This insensibility 
to the gifts of the gods was remedied by introducing 
the elements of diversity and suggestiveness into the 
face of nature and the significance of life. The night 
was made brilliant by stars ; mountains and valleys 
alternated in the landscape ; the atmosphere, from a 
fixed aspect, became nebulous and crystalline by turns. 
Nature, instead of ministering only to vitality and 
instinctive enjoyment, was so arranged and developed 
as constantly to excite imagination and act upon sym- 
pathy. Echo was born, at this time, to startle with 
mysterious responses ; and dreams first invaded the 
domain of sleep, to prolong the illusive agencies thus 
instituted to render human life more tolerable. 

By these means, Jove awakened to consciousness the 
soul, and increased the charities and the grace of exist- 
ence through a sense of the grand and beautiful. This 
epoch was of longer duration than that which preceded 
it ; and the weary and hackneyed spirits once more 
realized enjoyment in experiencing the same vivid im- 
pressions and zest of being which had marked the 
primitive era. But, at length, this warfare between 
the real and ideal, this successive interchange of 
charming delusion and stern fact that made up ex- 
istence, wore upon the moral energies, and so fatigued 
the spirits of men, that it gave rise to the custom, once 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 159 

prevalent among our progenitors, of celebrating as a 
festival the death of friends. Impiety was the final 
result of this period in the history of the race. Life 
became perverted, and human nature shorn of its 
original beauty. This fallen condition the gods 
punished by the flood of Deucalion. Admonished to 
repair the solitude of the earth, he and Pyrrha, though 
disdainful of life, obeyed the command, and threAv 
stones behind them to restore the species. Jove, 
admonished by the past of the essential nature of man. 
that it is impossible for him, like other animals, to live 
happily in a state of freedom from evil, always desiring 
the impossible, considered by what new arts it was 
practicable to keep alive the unhappy race. These he 
decided were — first, to mingle in his life real evils, and 
then to engage him in a thousand avocations and 
labours, in order to divert him as much as possible from 
communing with his own nature, or, at least, with the 
desire of the unattained. He, therefore, sent abroad 
many diseases and misfortunes, wishing, by the 
vicissitudes of mortal life, to obviate satiety, and 
increase, by the presence of evil, the relish of good — 
to soften the ferocity of man, to reduce his power, and 
lead him to succumb to necessity, and to temper the 
ardour of his desires. 

Besides such benefits, he knew that, when there is 
room for hope, the unhappy are less inclined to do 
violence to themselves, and that the gloom of disaster 
thus illumined is endurable. Accordingly, he created 



160 THE SCEPTICAL GEXIUS : 

tempests, armed them with thunder and lightning, 
gave Xeptune his trident, whirled comets into space, 
and ordained eclipses. By these, and other terrible 
phases of the elements, he desired to excite a wholesome 
awe, knowing that the presence of danger will recon- 
cile to life, for a time at least, not only the unhappy, 
but those who most abominate it. To exclude the 
previous satiety, he induced in mankind appetites for 
new gratifications, not to be obtained without toil ; 
and whereas, before the flood, water, herbs, and fruit 
sufficed for nourishment, now food and drink of great 
variety and elaborate preparation became a necessity ; 
until then, the equality of temperature rendered cloth- 
ing useless, the inclemency of the weather now made 
it indispensable. 

He ordered Mercury to found the first city, and 
divide the race into nations, tongues, and people, 
sowing discord among them. Thus laws were origi- 
nated and civil life instituted. He then sent among 
men certain sentiments, or superhuman phantasms 
of most excellent semblance, such as Justice, Vir- 
tue, Grlory, and Patriotism, to mould, quicken, and 
elevate society. The fruit of this revolution was ad- 
mirable. Notwithstanding the fatigues, alarms, and 
griefs previously unknown to our race, it excelled, in 
sweetness and convenience, its state before the deluge ; 
and this effect was owing mainly to the phantasms or 
ideas before alluded to, which inspired poets and 
artists to the highest efforts, and to which many 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 161 

cheerfully sacrificed their lives. This greatly pleased 
Jove, who justly thought that men would value life in 
proportion as they were disposed to yield it in a noble 
cause. Indeed, this order of things, even when super- 
seded after many centuries, retained its supremacy so 
well that, up to a time not very distant from the 
present, the maxims founded upon it were in vogue. 

Again, the insatiable desires of man alienated him 
from the will of the gods. Unsatisfied with the scope 
given to imaginative enjoyment, he now pleaded for 
Truth. This unreasonable exaction angered Jupiter, 
who, however, determined to punish importunity by 
granting the demand. To the remonstrances of the 
other deities, he replied by describing the consequences 
of the gift. It will, he assured them, destroy many of 
the attractive illusions of life, disenchant perception, 
and for ever chasten the fervour of desire ; for Truth 
is not to mortals what she is to divinities ; she makes 
clear the beatitude of the one, but the misery of the 
other, by revealing the conditions of their fate, the 
precarious nature of their enjoyments, and the de- 
ceptive character of human pursuits. The long-sought 
blessing thus proved to the multitude a bane ; for, in 
this new order of things, the semblance of the infinite 
no longer yielded satisfaction, but aggravated the soul, 
created weariness, longing, and aspiration. Under the 
dominion of Truth, universality supervened among 
men, landmarks lost their distinctness, nations inter- 

M 



162 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

mingled, and the motives to earnest lore or hate 
became few and tame; life thus gradually lost its 
original interest and significance to human conscious- 
ness, and its essential value was so greatly diminished 
as to awaken the pity of the gods at the forlorn destiny 
of the race. 

Jove heard their intercession benignly, and con- 
sented to the prayer of Love that she might descend 
to the earth. The gentle daughter of the celes- 
tial Venus thus preserved the only vestige of the 
ancient nobility of man. Often before had men 
imagined that she dwelt among them ; but it was only 
her counterfeit. Not until humanity came under the 
dominion of Truth, did Love actually vouchsafe her 
genuine presence, and then only for a time, for she 
could not be long spared from Heaven. So unworthy 
had mankind become, that few hearts were found fit 
to receive the angelic guest, and these she filled with 
such noble and sweet emotions, such high and con- 
sistent moral energy, as to revive in them the life of 
the beatific era. This state, when realized, so nearly 
approached the divine, that Jove permitted it to but 
few, and at long intervals. By this means, however, 
the grand primeval sentiments were kept in relation 
with man, the original sacred fire remained unextin- 
guished, and the glorious imaginings and tender 
charms of humanity yet lingered to nourish a sublime 
faith and infinite hope. The majority, however, con- 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 163 

tinued insensible to this redeeming element, and pro- 
faned and ignorantly repudiated it ; yet it ceased not 
to hallow, exalt, and refine the weary, sated, and 
baffled soul of man. 

Such is a meagre outline of the allegory which 
shadows forth Leopardi's views of life. It would 
appear that he recognized no sign of promise in the 
firmament of existence, radiant as it was to his vision 
with the starry light of knowledge, but the rainbow 
of love, upon which angels seemed to ascend and 
descend — the one glowing link between earth and 
sky, the bridge spanning the gulf of time, the 
arc made up of the tears of earth and the light of 
heaven. 

In a note to this fable, he protests against having 
had any design to run a philosophical tilt against 
either the Mosaic tradition or the evangelists ; but 
it is evident that he did aim to utter the convic- 
tions which his own meditations and personal ex- 
perience had engendered. JNor is the view thus 
given of the significance and far-reaching associations 
of human love, when consecrated by sentiment and 
intensified by intelligence, so peculiar as might appear 
from his manner of presenting it. In Plato, Dante, 
and Petrarch, in all the higher order of poets and 
philosophers, we find a divine and enduring principle 
recognized under the same guise. The language in 
which Leopardi expresses his faith on the subject is 



164 



THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 



not less emphatic than graceful : " Qualora viene in 
sulla terra, sceglie i cuori piu teneri e piu gentili delle 
persone piu generose e magnanime ; e quivi siede per 
alcun breve spazio ; diffondendovi si pellegrina e mira- 
bile soavita, ed einpiendoli di affetti si nobili, e di 
tanta virtu e fortezza, che eglino allora provano, cosa 
al tutto nuova nel genere umano, pinttosto verita che 
rassomiglianza di beatitudine." 

The satire of Leopardi is pensive rather than bitter ; 
it is aimed at general, not special error, and seems 
inspired far more by the sad conviction of a serious 
mind than the acerbity of a disappointed one. In 
the dialogue between Fashion and Death, the former 
argues a near relationship and almost identity of 
purpose with the latter ; and the folly and un- 
wholesome effects of subservience to custom are finely 
satirised, in naively showing how the habit she 
induces tends to shorten life and multiply the victims 
of disease. So in the proposal of premiums by an 
imaginary academy, the mechanical spirit of the age 
is wittily rebuked by the offer of prizes to the in- 
ventor of a machine to enact the office of a friend, 
without the alloy of selfishness and disloyalty which 
usually mars the perfection of that character in its 
human form. Another prize is offered for a machine 
that will enact magnanimity, and another for one 
that will produce women of unperverted conjugal 
instincts. The imaginary conversation between a 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 165 

sprite and a gnome is a capital rebuke to self-love; 
and that between Malambrnno and Farfarello em- 
phatically indicates the impossibility of obtaining 
happiness through will, or the agency even of superior 
intelligence. Leopardi's hopelessness is clearly shown 
in the dialogue of Nature and a Soul, wherein the 
latter refuses the great endowments offered because 
of the inevitable attendant suffering. In the Earth 
and Moon's interview, we have an ingenious satire 
upon that shallow philosophy which denies all the 
data of truth from individual consciousness and per- 
sonal experience. 

One of the most quaint and instructive of these 
colloquies is that between Federico Euysch and his 
mummies, in which the popular notion of the pain 
of dying is refuted by the alleged proof of experience. 
The mummies, in their midnight song, declare the 
condition of death to be Ikta no ma sicura. Phy- 
siologically considered, all pleasure is declared to be 
attended with a certain languor : Burke suggests 
the same idea in reference to the metaphysical effects 
of beauty on the nervous system ; and this agreeable 
state is referred to by the mummies to give their 
inquisitive owner an idea of the sensation of dying. 
The philosophy of this subject, the vague and super- 
stitious fears respecting it, have recently engaged the 
attention of popular medical writers ; but the essential 
points are clearly unfolded in this little dialogue of 
Leopardi. 



166 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

In his essay entitled Detti Memorabili di Filippo 
Ottonieri, we have apparently an epitome of his 
own creed ; at least, the affinity between the maxims 
and habits here described and those which, in other 
instances, he acknowledges as personal, is quite 
obvious. Ottonieri is portrayed as a man isolated 
in mind and sympathies, though dwelling among his 
kind. He thought that the degree in which in- 
dividuality of life and opinion in man was regarded 
as eccentric, might be deemed a just standard of 
civilization; as, the more enlightened and refined 
the state of society, the more such originality was 
respected and regarded as natural. He is described 
as ironical ; but the reason for this was, that he was 
deformed and unattractive in person, like Socrates, 
yet created to love ; and, not being able to win this 
highest gratification, so conversed as to inspire both 
fear and esteem. He cultivated wisdom, and tried 
to console himself with friendship ; moreover, his 
irony was not sdognosa ed acerba, ma riposata e dolce. 

He was of opinion that the greatest delights of 
existence are illusions, and that children find every- 
thing in nothing, and adults nothing in everything. 
He compared pleasure to odours which usually 
promised a satisfaction unrealized by taste ; and said, 
of some nectar-drinking bees, that they were blest in 
not understanding their own happiness. He re- 
marked that want of consideration occasioned far 
more suffering than positive and intentional cruelty, 



GIACOMO LEOPAEDI. 167 

and that one who lived a gregarious life would utter 
himself aloud when alone, if a fly bit him ; but one 
accustomed to solitude and inward life would often 
be silent in company, though threatened with a stroke 
of apoplexy. He divided mankind into two classes, 
those whose characters and instincts are overlaid and 
moulded by conformity and conventionalism, and those 
whose natures are so rich or so strong as to assert 
themselves intact and habitually. He declared that, 
in this age, it was impossible for any one to love 
without a rival; for the egotist usually combined 
with and struggled for supremacy against the lover 
in each individual. He considered delusion a re- 
quisite of all human enjoyment, and thought that 
man, like the child who, from a sweet-rimmed cha- 
lice imbibed the medicine, according to Tasso's simile, 
e daV inganuno sus vita riceve. In these, and many 
other ideas attributed to Ottonieri, we recognize the 
tone of feeling and the experience of Leopardi ; and 
the epitaph with which it concludes breathes of the 
same melancholy, but intelligent and aspiring nature : 
" Nato alle opere virtuose e alia gloria, vissuto ozioso e dis- 
utile, e morto sensa fama non ignaro della natura ne della 
fortuna swa." 

The Wager of Prometheus is a satire upon civili- 
zation, in which a cannibal feast, a Hindoo widow's 
sacrifice, and a suicide in London, are brought into 
vivid and graphic contrast. To exhibit the fallacy 



168 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

which estimates life, merely as such, a blessing, and 
to show that it consists in sensitive and moral ex- 
perience rather than in duration, as colour is derived 
from light and not from the objects of which it is 
but a quality, he gives us an animated and discrimi- 
nating argument between a metaphysician and a 
materialist ; and in illustration of the absolute 
mental nature of happiness when closely analyzed 
he takes us to the cell of Tasso, where a most charac- 
teristic and suggestive discussion takes place between 
him and his familiar genius. The tyranny of Nature, 
her universal and inevitable laws, unredeemed, to 
Leopardi's view, by any compensatory spiritual 
principle, is displayed in an interview between her 
and one of her discontented subjects, wherein she 
declares man's felicity an object of entire indifference ; 
her arrangements having for their end only, the 
preservation of the universe by a constant succession 
of destruction and renovation. 

His literary creed is emphatically recorded in the 
little treatise on Parini o vero della Gloria; and it 
exhibits him as a true nobleman in letters, although 
the characteristic sadness of his mind is evident in 
his severe estimate of the obstacles which interfere 
with the recognition of an original and earnest 
writer; for to this result, rather than fame, his 
argument is directed. As a vocation, he considers 
authorship unsatisfactory, on account of its usual 



GIACOMO LEOPARDL 169 

effect, when sedulously pursued, upon the animal 
economy ; he justly deems the capacity to understand 
and sympathize with a great writer extremely rare ; 
the pre-occupation of society in the immediate and 
the personal, the inundation of books in modern 
times, the influence of prejudice, ignorance, and 
narrowness of mind, the lack of generous souls, 
mental satiety, frivolous tastes, decadence of en- 
thusiasm and vigour in age, and impatient expectancy 
in youth — are among the many and constant obstacles 
against which the individual who appeals to his race 
through books has to contend. He also dwells 
upon the extraordinary influence of prescriptive 
opinion, wedded to a few antique examples, upon 
the literary taste of the age. He considers the 
secret power of genius, in literature, to exist in an 
indefinable charm of style almost as rarely appreciated 
as it is exercised ; and he thinks great writing only 
an inevitable substitute for great action — the develop- 
ment of the heroic, the beautiful, and the true in 
language, opinion, and sentiment, which under 
propitious circumstances, would have been embodied, 
with yet greater zeal, in deeds. He thus views the 
art in which he excelled, in its most disinterested and 
noblest relations. 

There is great naturalness, and a philosophic tone, 
in the interview between Columbus and one of his 
companions, as they approach the IS~ew "World. 



170 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

In the Eulogy on Birds, it is touching to perceive 
the keen appreciation Leopardi had of the joyous 
side of life, his complete recognition of it as a phase 
of nature, and his apparent unconsciousness of it as 
a state of feeling. The blithe habits of the feathered 
creation, their vivacity, motive power, and jocund 
strains, elicit as loving a commentary as Audubon 
or Wilson ever penned ; but they are described only 
to be contrasted with the hollow and evanescent 
smiles of his own species; and the brief illusions 
they enjoy are pronounced more desirable than those 
of such singers as Dante arid Tasso, to whom imagin- 
ation was a funestissima dote, e principio di sollecitudini, 
e angosce gravissime e perpetue. With the tokens of 
his rare intelligence and sensibility before us, it is 
affecting to read his wish to be converted into a 
bird, in order to experience awhile their contentment 
and joy. 

The form of these writings is peculiar. We know 
of no English prose work at all similar, except the 
Imaginary Conversations of Landor, and a few 
inferior attempts of a like character; but there is 
one striking distinction between Leopardi and his 
classic English prototype : the former's aim is always 
to reproduce the opinions and modes of expression 
of his characters, while the latter chiefly gives 
utterance to his own. This disguise was adopted, 
we imagine, in a degree, from prudential motives. 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 171 

Conscious of sentiments at variance with the accepted 
creed, both in religion and philosophy, the young 
Italian recluse summoned historical personages, whose 
memories were hallowed to the imagination, and 
whose names were associated with the past, and, 
through their imaginary dialogues, revealed his own 
fancies, meditations, and emotions. In fact, a want 
of sympathy with the age is one of the prominent 
traits of his mind. He was sceptical in regard to 
the alleged progress of the race, had little faith in 
the wisdom of newspapers, and doubted the love of 
truth for her own sake, as the master principle of 
modern science and literature. Everywhere he lauds 
the negative. Ignorance is always bliss, and sleep 
that "knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care," the most 
desirable blessing enjoyed by mortals. He scorns 
compromise with evil, and feels it is " nobler in the 
mind to suffer" than to reconcile itself to error and 
pain through cowardice, illusion, or stupidity. He 
writes to solace himself by expression ; and he writes 
in a satirical and humorous vein, because it is less 
annoying to others and more manly in itself than 
wailing in despair. Thus, Leopardi's misanthropy 
differs from that of Eousseau and Byron in being 
more intellectual; it springs not so much from 
exasperated feeling as from the habitual contem- 
plation of painful truth. Philosophy is rather an 
available medicament to him than an ultimate good. 



172 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

Patriotism, learning, despair, and love are expressed 
in Leopardi's verse with emphatic beauty. There 
is an antique grandeur, a solemn wail, in his allusions 
to his country, which stirs, and, at the same time, 
melts the heart. This sad, yet noble melody is quite 
untranslatable ; and we must content ourselves with 
an earnest reference to some of these eloquent and 
finished lyrical strains. How grand, simple, and 
pathetic is the opening of the first, AV Italia : — 

"0 patria mia, vedo le mura e gli archi 
E le colonne e i simulacri e l'erme 
Torn degli avi nostri, 
Ma la gloria non vedo, 
Non vedo il laiiro e il ferro ond'eran carcbi 
I nostri padri antiehi. Or fatta inerme 
Nuda la fronte e nudo il petto niostri. 
Oime quante ferite, 

Che lividor, che sangue ! oh qual ti veggio, 
Formosisiima donna ! Io chiedo al cielo 
E al mondo : dite, dite, 
Chi la ridusse a tale ? E questo e peggio, 
Che di catene ha carche ambe le braccia, 
Si che sparte le chiome e senza velo 
Siede in terra negletta e sconsalata, 
Nascondendo la faccia 
Tra le ginocchia, e piange." 

In the same spirit are the lines on the Monument to 

Dante, to whom he says — 

"Beato te che il fato 
A river non danno fra tanto orrore ; 
Che non vedesti in braccio 
L'itala nioglie a barbaro soldato. 



GIACOMO LEOPARDI. 173 

Non si conviene a si corrotta usanza 
Questa d 'animi eccelsi altrice a scola : 
Se di codardi e stanza, 

io l'e rimaner vedova e sola." 



The poem to Angelo Mai, on his discovery of the 
Kepublic of Cicero, is of kindred tone — the scholar's 
triumph blending with the patriot's grief. An 
identical vein of feeling also we recognize, under 
another form, in the poem written for his sister's 
nuptials. Bitterly he depicts the fate of woman in a 
country where 

" Virtu, viva sprezziaru, lodiamo estinta;" 
and declares — 

"0 miseri o codardi 
Figluioli avrai. Miseri eleggi. Immenso 
Tra fortuna e valor dissidio pose 
II corrotto costume. Ahi troppo tardi, 
E nella sera dell 'umane cose, 
Acquista oggi chi nasce il moto e il senso." 

Bruto Minore is vigorous in conception and exquisitely 
modulated. In the hymn to the Patriarchs, La 
Primavera, II Sabato del Vilaggio, Alia Luna, 11 Passaro 
Solitaria, II Canto notturno a" un Pastore errante in Asia, 
and other poems, Leopardi not only gives true des- 
criptive hints, with tact and fidelity, but reproduces 
the sentiment of the hour, or the scene he celebrates, 
breathing into his verse the latent music they awaken 
in the depth of thought and sensibility ; the rhythm, 
the words, the imagery, all combine to produce this 



174 THE SCEPTICAL GENIUS : 

result, in a way analogous to that by which great 
composers harmonize sound, or the masters of land- 
scape blend colours, giving birth to the magical effect 
which, under the name of tone, constitutes the vital 
principle of such emanations of genius. 

But not only in exalted patriotic sentiment and 
graphic portraiture, nor even in artistic skill, resides all 
the individuality of Leopardi as a poet. His tenderness 
is as sincere as it is manly. There is an indescribable 
sadness native to his soul, quite removed from acrid 
gloom or weak sensibility. "We have already traced 
it in his opinions and in his life ; but its most affecting 
and impressive expression is revealed in his poetry. 
II Primo Amove, La Sera del Di di Festa, II Risorgimento, 
and other effusions, in a similar vein, are instinct with 
this deep, yet attractive melancholy, the offspring of 
profound thought and emotion. " Uscir di pena" he 
sadly declares, " e diletto fra noi; non brillin gli ochi se 
non di pianto ; due cose belle ha il mondo : amore e morto." 
In that most characteristic poem, Amore e Morte, he 
speaks of the maiden who la gentilezza del morir com- 
prende : — 

" Quando novellamente 
Naace nel cor profondo 
Un amoroso affetto, 

Languido e stanco insiem con esso in petto 
Un desiderio di morir si sente : 
Come, non so : ma tale 
D' amor vero e possente e il primo effetto ; 



GIACAMO LEOPARDI. 175 

Forsei gli occhi spaura 

Allor questo deserto : a se la terra 

Forse il mortale inabitabil fatta 

Vede omai senza quella 

Xova, sola, infinica 

Felicita che il suo pensier figura ; 

Ma per cagiondi lui grave procella 

Presentendo il suo cor, brama quiete, 

Brama raccorsi in porto 

Dinanzi a fier desio, 

Che gia rugghiando, intorno, intorno oscura." 



THE PAINTEE OF CHAEACTEE s 
SIB DAVID WILKIE. 

The characteristic is an essential principle of art, and 
one that is never attained without original ability, 
and then rarely managed with tact. It possesses 
singular attraction, in modern times, from the uni- 
formity of manners, induced by high civilization. 
The peculiar zest with which an epicure enjoys game, 
and a naturalist or poet explores a primeval and 
uninvaded scene, is experienced, in a degree, by every 
vigorous and healthful mind in finding the character- 
istic effectively depicted in literature and art, or 
individualized in society. The interest awakened by 
the advent of a "lion" in the circles of Edinburgh, 
London, or Paris ; the pleasure with which we en- 
counter, in travel, a sequestered village, where the 
language, costume or habits of the people have re- 
tained their individuality ; and the earnest praise we 
lavish upon the author who succeeds in creating a 
fresh, consistent, and memorable character, are 



THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER. 177 

familiar evidences of the natural love of what is 
characteristic as an element of universal taste. Yet 
this obvious truth has been comparatively seldom 
acknowledged and rarely acted upon. Conformity to 
a classical type, the dominion of a prescriptive 
standard of taste, and the tyranny of fashion, have 
combined to elevate imitation above originality ; and 
genius, of a high and energetic kind, has alone proved 
adequate to obtain recognition for the latter. 

Shakspeare gave it sanction and nurture in Eng- 
land, and to him we ascribe, in no small measure, the 
bold individuality of achievement and taste, so remark- 
able in the history of art and letters in Great Britain. 
It is this which accounts for the otherwise anoma- 
lous taste that unites such opposite extremes of 
appreciation as Walpole, and Gray, with Burns, 
Crabbe, and Dickens, in literature ; and in art, 
Turner, West, and Lawrence, with Moreland, 
Hogarth, and Wilkie. There exists, indeed, an 
interminable dispute between the votaries of the 
classic and the characteristic ; only by slow degrees 
and most unwillingly do the votaries of the former 
yield their ground; accustomed to look at nature 
through the lens of antiquity, they dislike to admit 
that she can be directly viewed, that her features may 
be seized and embodied, and her spirit infused, with- 
out the intervention of that style, which the miracles 
of ancient art have consecrated. But when an 
original artist perfects himself in the details of this 



178 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

culture, as a means of expression, and then uses it to 
illustrate nature and manners as they actually exist, 
these devotees of antiquity are somewhat bewildered. 
In such a case, the charge of ignorance or vulgarity 
is inadmissible. The execution proves high knowledge 
and acquaintance with standard models; but the 
familiarity of the subjects chosen, and the fact that, 
instead of beauty according to the abstract classical 
idea, nature in her characteristic significance, is the 
essence of the work, disturbs the artistic creed of 
these ultra conservatives. The delight which all 
classes take in the sight of these adventurous efforts, 
the instant and genuine sympathy they awaken, and 
the extraordinary power they unquestionably display, 
"puzzle the will" of the elegant representatives of 
classicism ; and they can only reiterate the arguments 
adduced in the old controversy in regard to the 
Shakspearian and Racine Drama ; or have the mag- 
nanimity to acknowledge that the sphere of art is 
infinitely more extensive and versatile than they had 
imagined, and cannot be limited by any theory which 
a single touch of genius may for ever annihilate. 

The career of "Wilkie affords, perhaps, the most 
striking and certainly the most interesting illustration 
of these views. He began to be an artist from 
instinct, and seldom has the tendency been less modi- 
fied by adventitious influences. Excepting a print of a 
Highland Chief sent to his father's manse, the 
exercise of the artistic faculty was not even suggested 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 179 

to him by any visible example of its results ; yet, on 
the floors and walls of his boyhood's frugal home, on 
the smooth stones of the field, on the sand of the 
brook-side, and on his slate at school, he continually 
sketched human faces, animals, and every picturesque 
object that caught his eye ; no sooner was the visitor's 
back turned, than something, so near a likeness that 
it was immediately recognized, appeared in chalk or 
charcoal; groups of schoolboys surrounded his desk 
for " counterfeit presentments ;" he preferred to cover 
the margin of the page with designs, to committing 
its text to memory ; and to stand, with his hands in 
his pockets, and mark the pictures his comrades 
unconsciously made at their sports, to engaging in 
them himself; and it was his boast that he could 
draw before he knew how to read, and paint before he 
could spell. 

That love of the characteristic was his chief inspira- 
tion, while thus spontaneously exercising the language 
of art, is evident from the subjects he chose and the 
kind of observation in winch he delighted. His 
improvised drawings usually aimed at a great sig- 
nificance or whimsicality; mere imitation of unin- 
teresting objects he abjured. On his way to school 
he loitered to sketch a gipsy wife or a maimed soldier, 
a limping sailor or a mendicant fiddler, and to observe 
groups of ploughmen ; while it is remembered of him 
that his attention was often absorbed in watching a 
sunbeam on the wall, and the chiaro 'scuro effect of a 



180 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

smithy at night. He courted the society of good 
story-tellers, and displayed under a demure exterior, 
the keenest relish of drollery and mischief. Like the 
Duke of Argyle, his heart " warmed to the tartan "— 
though for its picturesque rather than its patriotic 
associations ; and the two memorable experiences of his 
boyhood were the sight of the sea and a review of 
cavalry. Nerved by habits of simplicity, and practised 
in the observation of nature, — sagacious, honest, 
candid, and poor, but wholly inexperienced in the 
technicalities and refinements of art — with this native 
sense of the characteristic, and a decided genius for 
embodying it, he left the manse of Cults, at the age of 
fourteen, to study art in Edinburgh. 

Habits of incessant application, and a resolution to 
proceed intelligently, and never, by obscure steps, 
according to his fellow pupils, distinguished him at the 
Trustees' Academy. He would not copy the foot or 
hand of an ancient statue without first knowing its 
law of expression, and accounting scientifically for the 
position of each muscle ; he was thorough and con- 
stant, and therefore made visible progress in facility 
and correctness of drawing. He took a prize in a 
few months, and the intervals of his practice were 
given to his favourite sphere of observation ; ever in 
pursuit of character, he frequented trysts, fairs and 
market-places. David Allan, a kind of Scotch Teniers, 
was the only precursor of "Wilkie that seems to have 
proved suggestive ; they had a natural vein in com- 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 181 

mon, though essentially different ; and these appear 
to have been the exclusive sources of his early educa- 
tion in art. 

An imperturbable good nature and love of quiet 
fun, endeared Wilkie to his comrades ; but his form 
grew thin and his cheek pale, from the life of assiduous 
routine that filled the cycle of his youth ; anxious 
not to invade, more than necessity compelled, the 
narrow resources of his family, he earnestly sought 
that command of art that would enable him to render 
it lucrative : and on his return home, he began at once 
to seek, and permanently represent, the characteristic 
phases of life and manners in his native district, where, 
in boyhood, he had grown familiar with them, and 
whither he had returned with power to do justice to his 
conceptions. 

The history of his first attempt in the peculiar 
sphere for which nature so obviously adapted him, 
is one of those pleasing and impressive episodes in 
the uneventful career of genius, which confirm our 
faith in its natural resources and inevitable destiny. 
With an old chest of drawers for an easel, and a herd- 
boy for a lay-figure, he began to put upon canvas a 
village fair. The scene of the picture was the adjacent 
hamlet of Pitteslie, the site of which, and its local 
features, he first carefully sketched ; his groups and 
figures were gleaned on a market-day, and consisted 
of old women and bonnie lassies, venders of poultry, 
shoes, eggs, and candy, a travelling auctioneer, a 
ballad-singer, a gaily-decked recruiting sergeant, 



182 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

and the grave forms of ministers and elders; these 
portraits he transferred to a blank leaf of his Bible 
from the nnconscions congregation at the kirk. Thus 
directly from life and nature every trait of the picture 
was derived. Its variety of character and dramatic 
style charmed the uninitiated, and the impressive 
originality of its conception won the favour of tasteful 
and unprejudiced observers. The number of the 
latter, however, was too limited at home for him to 
expect there the encouragement he needed ; and 
while he made studies in the vicinity which proved of 
great future use, and sketched outlines of village and 
rustic life which proved the bases of many subsequent 
triumphs, his chief resource in Scotland was portrait 
painting. 

With the gains of several months' labour in this 
field, and means cheerfully advanced by his father 
and neighbours to the best of their slender ability, 
he went to London, like many an adventurous genius, 
with a gift of nature to develop, upon the recog- 
nition of which his prosperity wholly depended. 
"We may imagine the feelings of the sagacious but 
demure young Scot, as he exchanged the familiar 
landscape of moor and mountain for the English 
coast, the ship-covered Thames, and the smoky canopy 
of London. Undaunted by the multitudinous life 
around him, with a modest but determined soul, he 
isolated himself, and patiently toiled. For nine long 
months he lived in humble lodgings, dined for thirteen 
pence a day, drew from his own limbs as models, and 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 183 

blacked his own shoes for economy. "Illness as well as 
poverty beset him, but his studies at the academy, his 
observations in the streets, and his labour at the easel, 
were unremitted. He placed his pictures in a shop- 
window, and groups would cluster round and enjoy 
them ; they found ready purchasers at six guineas 
each, but distrust of their own taste prevented many 
from acknowledging the merit they could not but feel ; 
and Wilkie corresponded with his father on the subject 
of returning to the manse and renouncing his dream 
of metropolitan success. 

True to his domestic attachments, he sought, with 
his first earnings, to procure a piano forte for his sister ; 
and at the shop of a distinguished manufacturer he 
excited curiosity, which led to an examination of his 
portfolio, and, at length, to the exhibition of Pitteslie 
Fair to the Countess of Mansfield — a patroness of 
the instrument-maker. Lord Mansfield ordered a 
picture of Wilkie, selecting his sketch of " The Village 
Politician" as the subject. The first idea of this work 
seems to have arisen from a popular ballad, but the 
excitement of the French revolution, as it operated in 
rural districts upon the village gossips, over the ale- 
house Gazette, rendered it an epitome of the times ; 
while in its details, as in the former instance, the 
painter followed nature with graphic authenticity. 

An incidental discussion between several artists of 
distinction, which resulted in a visit to Wilkie' s humble 
studio, contributed, at the same moment, to draw atten- 
tion to his merits ; and the exhibition of the " Village 



184 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

Politician" at the Eoyal Academy, was an epoch in the 
history of English Art. Although Lord Mansfield, in 
his pecuniary arrangement with Wilkie, did not emu- 
late the liberality for which patrons of art are renowned 
in Great Britain, yet the artist's manly behaviour on 
the occasion, and the fame of the picture, had the 
immediate effect of establishing him in public estima- 
tion. Thenceforth his reputation was fixed as an 
original painter ; in him the characteristic found its 
legitimate exponent ; and although Northcote sneered 
at his subjects as belonging to the "pauper school," 
and Haydon, in his admiration of the grand style, 
disputed with him as to the claims of his sphere of 
art, he calmly pursued his course ; and the Auroras 
and Calypsos of the exhibition were neglected, in 
their artificial beauty, while the iron-railing about 
"Wilkie's homely, but true and natural creations, was 
constantly surrounded by eager throngs of all classes, 
whose looks of wonder, mirth, or tenderness, bore 
witness to their genuine emotion. 

The effect of "WilMe's success upon the people 
of his native place, formed a striking contrast to 
their original misgivings as to his career. The 
ominous shake of the head with which the narrow 
but worthy presbyters had listened to what they 
deemed his profane intent, gave place to the reluctant 
confession that he was an ingenious lad; the old 
villagers, who had been most offended at finding 
their respectable faces transferred to the picture of 
a Fair without their knowledge and consent, now 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 185 

called at the manse, to thank the young artist for the 
enduring honour bestowed by his miraculous pencil ; 
the rustic satirist who had declared of one of his 
early sketches that it was more like a flounder than 
a foot, was now voted a simpleton ; and the old dame 
whose prophecy of the boy David, that he would live 
to be knighted, had been ridiculed, now won quite a 
reputation for second-sight, especially as the predic- 
tion was soon literally fulfilled. 

Next to the patronage secured by his fame, its most 
valuable result was social advancement. He imme- 
diately gained the friendship and confidence, and, in 
many instances, the habitual society of the leading men 
of rank, genius, and character in the kingdom, and pre- 
served the benefit first obtained through artistic genius, 
by his rich humour, unalloyed simplicity, and candid 
good nature. Indeed, no better evidence of the solid 
nature of Wilkie's gifts and acquirements could be 
afforded, than that shown in the manner of receiving 
what has been justly called " this gust of fame." His 
enthusiasm remained calm as before, his habits of 
application unchanged, his assiduity in the study and 
representation of the characteristic increased; he 
seemed only confirmed by the public response to 
his aspirations in their essential truth and efficacy; 
no symptom of elation appeared ; and it soon became 
evident to all that "Wilkie's modesty was equal to his 
originality. 

It is impossible to follow his subsequent career, 



186 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

without acknowledging the peculiar value of indivi- 
dual patronage to the cause of art. We have seen 
that long and careful observation, repeated experi- 
ment, and patient study, are essential to the pro- 
duction of such works as those adapted to his genius ; 
to toil thus upon a doubtful subject, to create 
instead of ministering to taste of this kind, or to sacri- 
fice a sphere so original and attractive for portrait paint- 
ing, are equally undesirable alternatives ; it is need- 
ful that the artist should be cheered by a reliable 
destination for his work, that he should devote 
himself to it with confidence and a spirit of freedom, 
hope, and self-possession, such as can never be realized 
when the disposition and recompense of this labour 
is wholly precarious. 

Accordingly we deem "WTLkie's successive admirable 
efforts the legitimate fruits of tasteful individual encou- 
ragement ; the commission of Lord Mansfield was 
immediately followed by one from Lord Mulgrave, 
and others from the Duke of Gloucester and Sir 
George Beaumont. The latter gentleman may be con- 
sidered the ideal of an artist's friend. Thoroughly 
versed in the principles, history, and practice of art, 
and only excluded from a high share of its honours 
by a want of executive facility, he not only ordered 
a picture with a tasteful wisdom that enlisted every 
true artist's gratitude, but watched its progress with 
an appreciative enthusiasm that awakened the best 
sympathies of the painter ; his tact and liberality were 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 187 

equal to his intelligence and taste. His letters to 
Wilkie are beautiful illustrations of character, as well 
as evidences of artistic knowledge and zeal. His 
home was the favourite resort of the fraternity, and 
his visits and letters cheered the labours and the 
lives of a class of men who need more and receive 
less recognition than any other. 

Wilkie continued to illustrate the subjects that 
from the first arrested his mind ; usually they were 
tinged with his own experience, and had a distinct 
national association ; and always the graces of execu- 
tion were made to elucidate the characteristic in 
expression. "The Blind Fiddler," "The Letter of 
Introduction," "The Beading of the Will," "The 
Penny Wedding," "The Card Players," "The News- 
monger," " The Unexpected Visitor," "The Cut Fin- 
ger," "G-uess my Name," "The Parish Beadle," 
"Bent Day," and "The Babbit on the Wall," are 
pictures, the very names of which at once suggest the 
genius of Wilkie, the originality of his sphere, and 
the causes of his popularity. Except to professional 
readers, the description of a picture is usually tedious 
and vague ; the general character of those of Wilkie 
may be inferred from their names ; while the inimi- 
table skill and effect of their execution has been made 
familiar by the excellent engravings of the originals 
so , widely distributed on both sides of the ocean. 
Like the poems of Burns, they speak directly to the 
heart and fancy, to the sense of humour and humanity ; 



188 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

and, humble as is their apparent aim, few works of art 
breathe so universal a language ; for it is derived from 
and addressed to our common nature, with only such 
local and individual modification, as give it significance 
and personality. 

The "Beading of the Will" is said to have been 
suggested by Bannister the comedian; it is one of 
the most characteristic not only of Wilkie's pictures, 
but of the school to which it belongs ; it is a kind of 
sublimated Hogarth, a genuine scene in life's drama, 
expressive, true, and having that fine mixture of 
nature, irony of observation, and skill, which forms 
the excellence of the domestic style of art. The busi- 
ness air of the attorney, the snuffling boy with his 
marbles, the pensive coquetry of the bouncing widow, 
the gallant devotion of the stalwart officer, and the 
flustering, indignant movement of the piqued dame, 
are eloquent exhibitions of character. For unity of 
design artists give the preference to the "Blind 
Fiddler;" the old man's complacent look at the sight 
of the children's pleasure, the boy imitating the musi- 
cian with a pair of bellows, the leaping of the infant, 
and the mother's sympathetic delight, form a family 
scene under the influence of music, at once sweet, 
natural and harmonious. 

Probably no single work exhibited at the Boyal 
Academy ever produced the immediate effect of " The 
Waterloo Gazette." From the women leaning out of 
the windows to drink in the thrilling news, to the 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 189 

oyster suspended on the half-raised fork of the en- 
tranced listener, every figure and object indicates the 
effect of the tidings, and this so vividly as to absorb 
and infect spectators of every class. 

The English school of painting is admirably illus- 
trative of English life and character. It is essentially 
domestic, and often so when professedly historical. 
Its landscapes, family groups, rural manners, or cha- 
racteristic subjects depicted with elegance, nicety, 
expression and truth, one would instantly infer were 
destined to become familiar and endeared to tasteful 
eyes in the privacy of home : grandeur of design and 
exaltation of sentiment — the pictorial generalization 
of the old masters, intended to adorn cathedrals and 
princely walls, would be singularly out of place in 
domestic retreats, A consciousness on the part of 
the artists, that they thus minister to the individual 
and the family, seems to chasten, refine, and genially 
inspire their labours. There is something almost per- 
sonally attaching in some of these limners as there is 
in the household writers of Britain; and we feel 
towards Gainsborough, Leslie, and Wilkie, as we do 
towards Thomson, Goldsmith, and Sterne. Yet one 
can scarcely imagine a greater variety of style than 
the renowned painters of England include ; few con- 
trasts in art being more absolute than those between 
Moreland and Turner, West and Leslie, or Eeynolds 
and Lawrence. 

In the works and artistic opinions of Wilkie there 



190 



THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 



is more intelligence than imagination ; good sense, 
clear reasoning, and thoughtfnlness, form the basis 
of his genius ; and these are the very qualities which 
distinguish the English from the Italians and Dutch, 
— the former having sense as the main element of 
their artistic activity, the second imagination, and 
the latter imitation. "Art," says Wilkie, "is only 
art when it adds mind to form ;" elsewhere he speaks 
of Turner's " glamour of colour ;" and observes : 
" "With a certain class of subjects it is necessary to 
put in much that is imaginary, or without authority, 
and to leave out much unadapted for painting." 

Few artists uniformly had a better reason for the 
faith that was in them than Wilkie, and his memory 
and observation were equally characterised by this 
intelligent spirit. Jerusalem recalled to his mind the 
imaginations of Poussin, and seemed built for all time ; 
while he recognized in the works of Titian, Paul Vero- 
nese, and Piombo, the closest resemblance to the Syrian 
race, and ascribed it to the constant intercourse between 
Venice and the East. From his comprehensive style, 
he saw that Michael Angelo's prophets and sibyls 
resembled the Jews of the Holy City ; while Raphael 
and Da Vinci recalled nature. He seems justly to 
have understood himself, and never painted well, ex- 
cept when self-impelled to a subject. He declined a 
commission to execute a picture of the death of 
Sydney, from a conviction of his inaptitude for the 
particular style required; and all Sir Walter's counsel 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 191 

to hiin in behalf of certain picturesque and memorable 
localities in Scotland, was thrown away upon the 
artist, who, meanwhile was busy in his own manner, 
collecting pictorial data, and providing what his 
friends called "relays of character," — working up his 
inimitable conceptions, and, at intervals, replenishing 
his purse by limning a portrait ; in the latter depart- 
ment, his most elaborate works are the Queen and 
her Council, Wellington, O'Connell, and Scott's 
family at Abbotsford. 

In one of his felicitous speeches, Wilkie remarked 
of his native country : " Bleak as are her mountains, 
and homely as are her people, they have yet in their 
habits and occupations a characteristic acuteness and 
feeling;" and these he seemed as much inspired to 
embody and preserve as Scott the historic associations, 
or Burns the rustic sentiment of the land ; and his 
eminent success is chiefly attributable to the posses- 
sion, in a high degree, of the traits of his nation — 
sagacity, perseverance, and a kind of implicit faith in 
the understanding as the guide to truth. His habit 
of interrupting conversation whenever he did not 
clearly understand what was said, and insisting on an 
explanation, his comments on art, and his patient 
experiments, both observant and executive, in order to 
arrive at the actual reflection of nature, evince a self- 
reliance and intelligent persistency that insured an 
ultimate triumph. He was usually an entire year in 
producing a work ; it first existed vaguely in his mind 



192 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

for a long interval, and around the primitive con- 
ception were gradually clustered hints caught from 
experience ; and when at last on the easel, repeated 
changes brought it slowly to perfection. It indicates 
unusual perspicuity in his teacher at Edinburgh that 
he wrote the elder Wilkie, that there was something 
of Correggio's manner in his son's drawing, and that 
"the more delicacy required in the execution the 
more successful would he be." He also prophesied 
his ability for the higher range of art, founded on 
this truth, and exactitude in the treatment of humble 
subjects. Yet when "Wilkie first presented himself 
with the Earl of Leven's introduction to the Trustees' 
Academy, he was refused admission on the ground of 
his technical ignorance. The deficiency in imitative 
skill, which he had enjoyed no adequate opportunity 
to gain, was thus suffered to blind the professor to 
his originality of conception — the rarest and most 
valuable gift of the artist. "When culture and ex- 
perience had given him a control of the vocabulary of 
art, his genius unfolded into what has been aptly 
called "the skill of Hogarth, and the glow without 
the grossness of Teniers." There is always a moral 
as well as a graphic power in his works — a lesson of 
humanity — a glimpse of universal truth, which exalt 
the homeliest details, and gives significance to every 
casual touch. 

"Wilkie' s artist-life was chiefly diversified by social 
recreation and travel. On his journeys to the Con- 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 193 

tinent, his constant attention was given to pictures, 
and his letters abound in wise, just, and independent 
criticism. In Germany he enjoyed the satisfaction of 
finding two of his best works held in great estimation 
— " The Beading of the "Will" and " The Toilet of a 
Bride :" the possession of the former having been 
amicably disputed by the kings of England and Bavaria. 

He revelled in the examination of the Correggios 
at Parma, gazed with interest on Bembrandt's house 
at Antwerp, was reminded of Cuyp at Nimeguen, 
and studied Michael Angelo with reverence in 
Italy. He took the Sultan's portrait at Constan- 
tinople, and was honoured by a public dinner at 
Borne, at which the Duke of Hamilton presided, and 
all the artists of distinction in the Eternal City were 
present. His last pilgrimage was to the East ; and 
the record of his impressions overflows with a keen, 
yet holy appreciation of its scenes and history. With 
his portfolio enriched by sketches of the landscape, 
costume, and physiognomy, in which that memorable 
region abounds, his A*iews of art enlarged and his 
fancy teeming with new subjects, on his -way home 
his life prematurely closed on board an oriental 
steamer in the harbour of Gibraltar. 

His views of art were both acute and comprehensive. 
He recognized the spiritual aim of Correggio and the 
detailed fidelity of the Dutch painters, and, in his 
last manner, more perfectly united them than any 
previous limner ; "take away simplicity from art," he 

o 



194 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

writes, "and away goes all its influence;" yet 
elsewhere he declares that the " power of stirring 
deep emotion, and not of overcoming difficulties, is 
her peculiar glory." He considered art a language 
to be used wisely, and sought his own material 
among the pipers and deer-stalkers of Athol, in the 
byway hovels of Ireland, in Jew's Row, London, in 
projecting gables, in byway incidents, in the sagacity 
of mind and kindliness of heart of the aged, in the 
mirth of the Lowlands, in the figures at the public 
bath on the Danube, in the old scribe at the mosque 
door, and in the incidental groups, brilliant harmony of 
colour, and effective light and shade which nature and 
life afforded. He appealed to the immediate ; selected 
themes of national interest, and made noble pictures 
out of familiar materials ; hence, the ardent recog- 
nition and unbounded popularity he enjoyed. " From 
Giotto to Michael Angelo," he remarks, "expression 
and sentiment seem the first things thought of, while 
those who followed seemed to have allowed tech- 
nicalities to get the better of them." In Wilkie's 
happiest efforts the desirable proportion between 
these two elements of art is completely realized. 

An ingenious work has been published to show the 
effect of different mechanic trades upon the animal 
economy ; a curious branch of the inquiry might 
include the influence of special kinds of mental action 
upon the brain and nerves. "We have seen that 
Wilkie's superiority consisted in the minutiae of 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 195 

expression attained by intense study; after thus 
executing several renowned works, he seems to have 
felt great cerebral disturbance ; the power of sus- 
tained attention was invaded ; when his mind became 
fixed upon a sketch or a conception, suddenly a mist 
would rise before his eyes, his ideas would grow 
bewildered, and only after an interval of repose or 
recreation, could he again command his faculties. 
The discriminating reader of his own account of the 
process by which he worked out his artistic ideas, 
cannot fail to recognize in the assiduous concentration 
of thought upon the details of expression, if not the 
proximate cause, at least as aggravating this tendency 
to cerebral disease. A succession of domestic be- 
reavements and pecuniary difficulties consequent upon 
the failure of his bankers, increased these symptoms 
in Wilkie, induced his Eastern tour, and doubtless 
occasioned his apparently sudden demise. 

Perhaps, too, the mental necessity of a change of 
at first to modify his style, and seek in habit led him 
his last pictures more general effects. From whatever 
cause, he certainly astonished even his admirers by the 
graceful ease with which he, all at once, rose to the 
dignity of historical subjects and a more exalted 
dramatic expression. Hints of this phase of his 
genius he had, indeed, given at an early date, in the 
beautiful sentiment of the scene from the Gentle 
Shepherd — one of his first works, and subsequently in 
the picture of " Alfred the Great in the Neatherd's 



196 THE PAINTER OF CHARACTER : 

Cottage ;" but the feeling and power displayed in the 
" Chelsea Pensioners," the " Maid of Saragossa" and 
" Knox Preaching the Eeformation," proved that 
Wilkie could soar, at will, into the higher spheres of 
art, and carry his principles of execution into the 
noblest class of subjects. These and other pictures 
of the kind, besides possessing his usual merit of 
being eminently characteristic, were not less remark- 
able for their comprehensive spirit. The "Peep o' 
Day," tells in two figures the whole story of Ireland's 
wrongs ; the " Chelsea Pensioners" is the most 
pathetic tribute to patriotic valour ever put upon 
canvas ; sailors and soldiers, with their wives and 
children, wept over it at the exhibition. 

The " Spanish Posada" is an epitome of modern 
Spain — grouping, as it does, with such truth to fact 
and nature, a Gruerilla council of war, a Dominican, 
a monk of the Escurial, a Jesuit, a patriot in the 
costume of Valencia, the landlady serving her guests 
with chocolate, a mendicant student of Salamanca, with 
his lexicon and cigar, whispering soft things in her ear, 
a contrabandist on a mule, an armed Castilian, a 
dwarf with a guitar, a goatherd, the muzzled house- 
dog, the pet lamb, and the Gruadarma Mountains in 
the background. Wilkie's picture and Byron's 
verses have made the Maid of Saragossa familiar to 
the civilized world ; but perhaps no single work 
combines the excellences of "Wilkie in a more im- 
pressive manner than " Knox." The still-life is as 



SIR DAVID WILKIE. 197 

exact as if painted by a Flemish master, and as 
suggestive as if designed by Hogarth ; all the faces 
are authentic portraits ; — the expression of the stern 
and eloquent reformer, and the effect of what he says 
upon the different persons assembled, is absolutely 
and relatively characteristic. The whole scene is, as 
it were, thus redeemed in vital significance from the 
past. Wilkie explored the palace at Holyrood. the 
portraits of the leaders of that day, and attended the 
preaching of Chalmers and Irving, to obtain the 
materials of this inimitable work — in which the 
highest graces of the Flemish and Italian schools 
seem united. Calm, observant, persevering and 
acute, "Wilkie thus won successive victories in art, 
and proved his faith in its conservative worth by 
embodying memorable national events, until he fairly 
earned the praise of being the "most original, 
vigorous and varied, of the British painters." He 
continued, as he advanced, to bear his honours meekly 
— from the freedom of his native town to the order 
of knighthood, the eclat of an exhibition of his 
collected works, the friendship of the noble, the 
gifted and the powerful, and the annual enthusiasm 
excited by his contributions to the academy. His 
birth was registered in an obscure Scotch parish, and 
his death in the log-book of a Mediterranean steamer ; 
yet, within the fifty-two years thus included — how 
richly did he contribute to art, win fame, and vin- 
dicate genius ! 



THE EEYIEWEE: 
LORD JEFFREY. 

Oxe cool morning, during our last war with England, 
a group of Knickerbocker savans might have been seen 
on the Battery, eagerly watching the approach of a 
vessel. On her deck, at the same moment, the 
inspection of a passenger's baggage was going on, 
under the eye of a vigilant officer of the customs — 
whose herculean proportions and deliberate air were 
in amusing contrast with the brisk movements and 
diminutive figure of the indignant owner of the trunks 
and boxes thus overhauled and scrutinized. At last, 
swelling with indignation, the little man turned to his 
burly tormentor, with the question — a la Caesar — 
" Sir ! do you know who I am ?" 

" Yes," replied the officer, "you are the editor of a 
Scotch magazine;" and immediately continued his 
examination, as if determined to prove the querist a 
smuggler. 

Quite different were the manners of the expectant 



THE REVIEWER. 199 

group at the pier, when the irritated gentleman 
stepped upon shore. Their deferential greeting and 
urgent hospitality soon put him in better humour, 
without, however, diminishing the self-complacency of 
his bearing. The scene perfectly illustrated a singular 
characteristic of the times — the ascendency gained 
over public opinion by the press, and the newly- 
established power of criticism. 

The gentleman whose arrival in the United States was 
thus signalized, was Francis Jeffrey, who, having con- 
tracted an engagement of marriage with an American 
lady whom he met abroad, had come over, under the 
protection of a cartel specially granted for the purpose, 
in a government ship, to marry the lady of his choice. 
The practical independence and good sense of the scion 
of democracy who examined his baggage, rebelled at a 
certain vague idea he had somewhere acquired — that 
the wise men of his native city pinned their faith upon 
a foreign periodical ; and sharing in the animosity then 
cherished against Great Britain, he was far from 
pleased at the demonstration of respect to the 
Scotch editor manifested in the vessel that brought, 
and the reception that awaited him ; while the 
learned coterie who eagerly seized upon the stranger, 
beheld in him the incarnation of mental vigour, wit, 
knowledge, and pleasantry, which, under the name of 
the Edinburgh Review, had been their chief intel- 
lectual repast for several preceding years. There was 
nature and reason on both sides — a resistance to 



200 THE REVIEWER : 

foreign domination, even in matters of taste and 
speculation, on the one hand — for the custom-house 
officer had published a book or two in his day — and 
a hearty recognition of mental obligation on the other. 
Looking upon the man through the expanding vista 
of succeeding triumphs in periodical criticism and 
enlarged literary culture, you can readily take that 
medium ground between the extremes of inde- 
pendence and admiration, where the truth doubtless 
lies. 

At the period referred to, however, Jeffrey's position 
was a remarkable social phenomenon. The son of a 
Glasgow tradesman or mechanic, and educated for the 
bar — by means of a certain degree of taste, a winning 
style, polished irony, and clever argumentative ability, 
he vaulted to the throne of criticism, became a literary 
autocrat — the Napoleon of the world of letters — not 
without some claim to the distinction, indeed, but 
yet owing it chiefly to ingenuity, perseverance, and 
audacity. The reason of this success is obvious. He 
was the pioneer reviewer; the first who discovered 
the entire significance of the cabalistic "we." With 
an acute though not comprehensive power of reflection 
he united remarkable tact ; and, by virtue of these 
two qualities, naturally succeeded in pleasing that 
large class of readers who are neither wholly super- 
ficial nor profound, but a little of both. He had a 
metaphysical turn without rising to the title of a 
moral philosopher ; and could speculate upon abstract 



LORD JEFFREY. 201 

questions with an ease and agreeableness that 
rendered them entertaining. Accordingly he made 
abstruse subjects familiar, and delighted many who 
had never been conscious of great insight, with the 
idea that they could appreciate the mysteries of 
knowledge. There is more, however, that is plausible 
and attractive than original or suggestive in the 
metaphysical dissertations of Jeffrey. The talent of 
the writer, rather than the novelty or consistency of his 
theories, is to be admired. The article, for instance, 
on Alison's Taste is a charming specimen of this kind 
of writing ; but it wants definite and satisfactory im- 
pressions. It gratifies a taste in composition rather 
than a passion for truth, which should guide and 
inspire such investigations. 

Qualities attractive in themselves become obnoxious 
when incongruously united with others of an opposite 
moral nature. To an honest and loving spirit the 
coexistence of beauty and falsehood is too painful for 
contemplation ; and the most fascinating manners 
revolt, when their hypocrisy is once discovered. 
Sterne prays for a reader who will surrender the reins 
of imagination to the author's hands : now it is a law 
of human nature that such a tribute is only spon- 
taneously yielded to geniality ; and the difficulty of a 
hearty concession, even of opinion, to Lord Jeffrey, 
is that he is more peremptory and acute than sym- 
pathetic and respectful. An independent and, 
especially, a reverent mind, naturally distrusts the 



202 THE REVIEWER : 

dogmatical tone and plausible reasoning of his 
criticisms. He discusses a subject with charming 
vivacity, exhibits an ingenuity that is admirable ; 
and displays a knowledge of outward relations and 
historical facts that commands respect ; and, if the 
theme is purely objective, unassociated with sentiment 
of any description, and appealing to mere curiosity, 
there are few writers who are more delightful ; but 
when he approaches a subject dear to affection, or 
consecrated by hallowed memories, we often shrink as 
from the touch of a coarse and mechanical operator. 
He then seems to speak without authority ; we in- 
stinctively question his right to teach, and feel that 
he is a ruthless intruder into sacred places. 

The truth is, that Lord Jeffrey, by nature, educa- 
tion, and habits of thought, was a special pleader. He 
used words and ideas for an immediate purpose ; his 
object, when most in earnest, is to gain a point ; his 
liberality and depth of feeling were in reverse pro- 
portion to his cleverness and information. His great 
moral defect was want of modesty. He does not appear 
to have known, by experience, the feeling of self-dis- 
rust, butthought himself quite competent to dictate to 
the world, not only on legal, but on literary and social 
topics. This reliance upon his own reason gives force 
and point to those disquisitions the scope of which 
came within his legitimate range, but makes him 
offensive, with all his agreeability of style, the moment 
he transcends his proper sphere. He manifests, in an 



LORD JEFFREY. 203 

extraordinary degree, the Scotch idiosyncrasy which 
refers everything exclusively to the -understanding. 
He was essentially literal. 

The interest of Lord Jeffrey centres in the fact, that 
its subject was the prime agent of a literary revolution. 
The incidents of his life are the reverse of extraordi- 
nary ; his professional career has been surpassed, in 
many instances, by his fellow-advocates ; his habits 
were systematic and moral ; and his outward expe- 
rience was the usual alternation of business, society, 
journeys, and rural seclusion, which constitutes the 
routine of a prosperous and intelligent citizen. A 
native of Edinburgh, where he was chiefly educated, 
he passed a few uncomfortable months at Oxford ; re- 
turned home and finished his preparatory studies, under 
excellent teachers ; after much hesitation, adopted the 
law as a pursuit ; in due time was admitted to the bar, 
rose to the office of Lord Advocate, took an active part 
in politics, was twice happily married; — he visited 
London frequently, and there enjoyed the best intel- 
lectual society ; made excursions to different parts of 
England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland; engaged 
zealously in the debates and genial intercourse of one 
of the most brilliant clubs ever instituted ; and died 
in his seventy-seventh year, deeply lamented b}' a 
large and gifted circle of Edinburgh society, as well 
as by a tenderly attached family and a host of noble 
friends. In this career, so eminently respectable and 
fortunate, there is obviously little to impress the 



204 THE REVIEWER : 

public. ISTo dramatic scenes, curious adventures, 
tragic combats with fate, or touching mysteries of 
inward life ; — all is plain, sensible, prudent, and suc- 
sessful. With the exception of a rhetorical triumph, 
a good descriptive hint of scenery or character, and 
those interludes of sorrow incident to the lot of man, 
when the angel of death bears off the loved and 
honoured, a singularly even tenor marks the experience 
of Jeffrey, as described in his correspondence. 

Neither is there discoverable any surprising endow- 
ment or fascinating gift, such as renders the very name 
of some men a spell to quicken fancy and to draw tears. 
The order of his mind is within the sphere of the 
familiar ; only in aptness, in constant exercise and skill, 
was it above the average. With the utilitarian instinct 
and thorough rationalism of his country, Jeffrey wisely 
cultivated and judiciously used his powers ; above all, 
he never distrusted them, but, with the patience and the 
faith of a determined will, kept them at work to the 
best advantage, and probably reaped as large a harvest, 
in proportion both to the quality of the soil and the 
quantity of the seed, as Scotch shrewdness and thrift 
ever realized. Yet, to continue the similitude, it was 
more by successive crops, than by grand and lasting 
fruits, that his labour was rewarded : some flowers of 
fancy and a goodly stock of palatable fodder grew in 
his little garden, but no stately evergreens, sacred 
night-bloom, or glowing passion-flowers, such as make 
lovely for ever the haunts of original genius. To drop 



LORD JEFFREY. 205 

metaphor, Lord Jeffrey owes his reputation, and is 
indebted for the interest of his biography, to the eclat, 
influence, and fame of the Edinburgh Review. The 
merit of taking the initiative in a more free and bold 
style of periodical literature, the advantages of the 
reform thus induced, and the intellectual pleasure de- 
rived from the open and spirited discussion, by ade- 
quate writers, of public questions, are benefits justly 
associated with his name and altogether honourable to 
his memory. These services, however, are identified 
in many minds, with an undue sense of his critical 
authority and a submission to his dicta occasioned 
by a graceful effrontery of tone, rather than absolute 
capacity. 

Circumstances greatly favoured his literary success. 
At the epoch of the commencement of his enterprise, 
the liberal party stood in need of an efficient organ. 
The existent periodicals were comparatively tame and 
old-fashioned. It was one of those moments in public 
affairs, when a bold appeal was certain to meet with 
an emphatic response ; and the party of friends, among 
whom originated the idea of a new and spirited journal, 
were not only fitted by the vigour of their age, the 
warmth of their feelings, and their respective talents, 
for the undertaking in view, but were urged by their 
position, sympathy, and hopes. The great secret of 
the immediate popularity of the work was undoubtedly 
its independence. The world instinctively rallies 
around self-reliance, not only in the exigencies of actual 



206 THE EE VIEWER : 

life, but in the domain of letters and politics. Ac- 
cordingly, the freedom of discussion at once indulged, 
the moral courage and spirited tone of this fraternal 
band, won not less than it astonished. The example, 
so unexpectedly given, in a region distant from the 
centre of taste and action in the kingdom, of candid 
and firm assertion of the right of private judgment, the 
fearless attitude assumed, and the enlightened spirit 
displayed, carried with them a novel attraction and the 
highest promise. 

The Edinburgh Heview was the entering wedge 
in the old tree of conservatism which had long 
overshadowed the popular mind ; it was like the 
trumpet-note of an intellectual reinforcement, the 
glimmering dawn of a more expansive cycle in the 
world of thought. The feverish speculations ushered 
in by the French Revolution had prepared the way for 
the reception of new views ; the warfare of parties had 
settled down into a truce favourable to the rational 
examination of disputed questions. The wrongs of 
humanity were more candidly acknowledged ; a new 
school of poetry and philosophy had commenced ; and 
in Scotland, where Jeffrey declares there was a re- 
markable "intellectual activity and conceit of individual 
wisdom," a medium of opinion and criticism such as 
this was seasonable and welcome. Yet it is charac- 
teristic of his cool, uninspired mind, that he entered 
upon the experiment with little enthusiasm. He says, 
in his correspondence, that his " standard of human 



LORD JEFFREY. 207 

felicity is set at a very moderate pitch," and that he 
has persuaded himself that "men are considerably 
lower than angels ;' ' his expectations were confessedly 
the reverse of sanguine ; and he eagerly sought to es- 
tablish his professional resources and make literature 
subsidiary. His allies were finely endowed. The wit 
of Sydney Smith alone was a new feature in journalism; 
and the remarkable coterie of writers, of which the 
Review soon became the nucleus, gave it the prestige 
of more versatile talent than any similar work has ever 
boasted ; so that the editor justly says : " I am a 
feudal monarch at best, and my throne is overshadowed 
by the presumptuous crests of my nobles." 

A novelty in Lord Jeffrey's position was the 
social and even civic importance this species of 
literature acquired. The idea of a man of letters 
had been associated with refinement, meditation, and 
a life abstracted, in a great degree, from the active 
concerns of the world. There was, however, some- 
thing quite adventurous, exciting, and eventful in 
a vocation that so constantly provoked resentment 
and elicited admiration. Challenged by Moore, 
carrying Boswell drunk to bed in his boyhood, in 
correspondence with Byron, dining with Scott, living 
within constant range of Sydney Smith's artillery 
of bon-mots, the companion of Brougham, Mackenzie, 
Playfair, Erskine, Campbell, Hamilton, and other 
celebrated men of the day, his natural fluency derived 
point and emphasis from colloquial privileges ; and 



208 THE REVIEWER : 

doubtless somewhat of the antagonistic character 
of his writings was derived from the lively debates 
of the club, and excited by the attrition of such 
vigorous and individual minds. We are told of 
his "speculative playfulness," "graceful frankness," 
and "gay sincerity; " these, and epithets of a similar 
kind, sufficiently indicate the causes of his success. 
It was through the very qualities that constitute agree- 
ability in society that he pleased as a critic. More 
serious and intense writing would have repelled the 
majority. Lord Jeffrey made no grave demands on 
the thinking faculty; he did not appeal to high 
imagination, but confined himself to the level of a 
glib, polished, clever, and often very pleasant style. 
It was a species of man-of-the-world treatment of 
books, and therefore very congenial to mediocre 
philosophers and complacent men of taste. 

But to recognize in such a critic the aesthetic 
principles which should illustrate works of genius, 
is to wantonly neglect those more earnest thinkers 
and reverent lovers of the noblest developments of 
humanity who have, through a kindred spirit, inter- 
preted the mysteries of creative minds. There are 
passages in Coleridge, Ulrici, Schlegel, Mackintosh, 
Hazlitt, Wilson, Carlyle, Lamb, and Hunt, which 
seize upon the vital principle, give the magnetic clew, 
prolong the key-note of the authors they have known 
and loved, compared to which Jeffrey's most brilliant 
comments are as a pyrotechnic glare to the beams 



LORD JEFFREY. 209 

of the sun. The list of two hundred articles con- 
tributed by him to the Edinburgh displays such a 
variety of subjects as it is quite impossible for any 
one mind either thoroughly to master or sincerely 
relish. The part which he most ably performs, as 
a general rule, is what may be called the digest of 
the book; he gives a catalogue raisonnee, in the 
broadest sense of the term — and this is excellent 
service. Biographies, travels, works of science, and 
history are thus introduced to the world under a 
signal advantage, when there is no motive to carp 
or exaggerate in the statements. Next to this class 
of writings, he deals skilfully with what, for the 
sake of distinction, may be called the rhetorical poets — 
those who give clear and bold expression to natural 
sentiment, without a predominance of the psycho- 
logical and imaginative. The school of Pope, which 
appeals to the understanding, the fancy, and to 
universal feeling, he understands. Hayley, Crabbe, 
Campbell, Scott, and portions of Byron, he analyses 
well, and often praises and blames with reason; to 
Miss Edgeworth, Irving, and Stewart, he is just. 
But the sentiment of Barry Cornwall, the suggestive 
imagery of Coleridge, the high philosophy of Words- 
worth, and the luxuriant beauty of Keats, often 
elude the grasp of his prying intellect. 

The lack of spiritual insight was another disqualifi- 
cation of Lord Jeffrey as a critic of the highest 
poetry. Trained to logical skill, and apt in rhetoric, 

p 



210 THE PwEVIEWER : 

he never seems to have felt a misgiving in regard to 
their sufficiency as means of interpretation of every 
species of mental product. The intuitive creations 
of genius, born of the soul and not ingenuously 
elaborated by study, the " imagination all compact " 
of the genuine bard, were approached by his vivacious 
mind with an irreverent alacrity. To place himself 
in sympathetic relation with an individual mind, the 
only method of reliable criticism, was a procedure 
he ignored ; the play of his own fancy and knowledge, 
and the oracular announcement of his judgment, 
were the primary objects ; the real sign if icance of 
the author quite secondary. He reviewed objectively, 
and arraigned books at his tribunal without that 
jury of peers which true genius claims by virtue of 
essential right. A merely agreeable or indifferent 
subject thus treated may afford enterta in ment, 
exactly as a lively chat on the passing topics of the 
day amuses a vacant hour; but when the offspring 
of an earnest mind, and the overflowing of a nature 
touched to fine issues, are sportively discussed and 
despatched with gay authority, the impatience of 
more reverent minds is naturally excited. 

There was a philosophical elevation in Burke that 
tempered his severest comments ; a noble candour in 
Montaigne that often reconciles us to his worldliness. 
Carlyle betrays so deep a sympathy that it robs his 
sarcasm of bitterness, and Macaulay is so picturesque 
and glowing that the reader cheerfully allows an occa- 



LORD JEFFREY. 211 

sional want of discrimination to unity of effect. But 
to that mental superiority which consists in spright- 
liness of tone and ingenuity of thought we are less 
charitable ; pertness of manner is not conciliating ; 
and off-hand, nonchalant, and superficial decisions, 
in the case of authors who have excited real enthu- 
siasm and spoken to our inmost consciousness, are 
not received without serious protest. It is for these 
reasons that Lord Jeffrey occupies but a temporary 
place ; he did not seize upon those broad and eternal 
principles which render literary obligations perma- 
nent; he was an excellent pioneer, and cleared the 
way for more complete writers to follow ; his indepen- 
dence was conducive to progress in criticism, and 
his agreeable style made it attractive ; but a more 
profound and earnest feeling is now absolutely re- 
quired in dealing with the emanations of genius. 
Too much of the merely clever and amusing manner 
of Horace "Walpole, and too little enthusiasm for 
truth, characterise his remarks on the really gifted ; 
in the discussion of current literature, the claims 
of which are those of information and style only, 
no reviewer can give a better compend, or sum up 
merits and defects with more brilliancy and tact. 

It is natural to expect, in the posthumous bio- 
graphy of influential men, a key to the riddle of their 
success, a solution of the problem of character, and 
such a revelation of personal facts as will throw light 



212 THE REVIEWER : 

upon what is anomalous in their career, or explain, 
in a measure, the process of their development. The 
lives of Dr. Johnson, of Sir Walter Scott, of Schiller, 
and, among recent instances, of Keats, Lamb, and 
Sterling, by the new information they convey in 
regard to the domestic situation, the original tempera- 
ment, and the private circumstances of each, have 
greatly modified previous estimates, and awakened 
fresh sympathy and more liberal judgments. The 
life of Lord Jeffrey leaves upon the mind a better 
impression of the man, than obtains among those who 
knew him only through the pages of the Edinburgh 
E-eview, while it confirms the idea which those writ- 
ings suggest of the author. On the one hand, is 
found a love of nature and a life of the affections which 
could not have been inferred, at least to their real 
extent, from the articles on which his literary fame 
rests ; and on the other, we perceive exactly the 
original habits of mind, course of study, and tend- 
encies of opinion to be anticipated from his intel- 
lectual career. Accordingly, the integrity, steady 
friendships, conjugal and parental devotion, and enjoy- 
ment of the picturesque, which are so conspicuous in 
the man and so worthy of respect and sympathy, 
should not be allowed to interfere with our consider- 
ation of his merits as a writer and critic. 

Jeffrey belongs essentially to the class of writers 
who are best designated as rhetoricians; that is, if 



LORD JEFFREY. 213 

closely analyzed, it will be seen that his force lies 
entirely in sagacity and language. Fluency, vitalized 
by a certain animation of mind, is his principal means 
of effect; words he knows well how to marshal in 
brilliant array ; he points a sentence, rounds a para- 
graph, gives emphasis to an expression, with both 
grace and spirit. But the value of these elements of 
style is to be estimated, like the crayons and pigments 
of the artist, by the qualities they are made to unfold, 
the ideas they embody, the uses to which they are 
devoted. Jeffrey possessed them by virtue of an 
original quickness of intellect and patient industry. 

The most striking fact of his early culture is the 
perseverance with which he practised the art of com- 
position, not as an academic exercise, but as a means 
of personal improvement ; he wrote elaborate papers 
on various subjects ; and at the end recorded his 
opinion of them, usually the reverse of complacent ; 
and this course he pursued for years, as is proved by 
the quantity and the dates of the manuscripts he left. 
No stronger evidence is required of the predominance 
of the technical over the inspired in his authorship, 
than this deliberate toil to master the art of expres- 
sion, as a means of success and a professional acquisi- 
tion. It now appears that he carried the experiment 
into verse, and imitated the manner of all the English 
poets, evidently hoping to obtain the same facility 
in poetry as in prose. His good sense, however, soon 



214 THE REVIEWER : 

induced him to abandon the former attempt ; but the 
knowledge of versification and the machinery of this 
highest department of letters, thus acquired, was the 
basis of his subsequent criticisms, and accounts for 
his familiarity with the letter, and ignorance of the 
inward spirit, of the Muse. It is, indeed, a perfectly 
Scotch process, to set about a course of study and 
practice in order to think correctly even on subjects 
so identified with natural sentiment as to repudiate 
analysis. The romance of literature, or rather its 
highest function, — that of appealing to human con- 
sciousness and unfolding the mysteries of the passions 
and the sense of awakened beauty, — is effectually de- 
stroyed by so cool and premeditated an application of 
causality to emotion. There is in it a literal mode 
of thought utterly destructive of illusion : the vague 
and inexplicable, the "terror and pity" which lift our 
nature above itself, and ally it with the infinite, are 
quite unrecognized; the oracles of humanity are 
rudely disrobed, the sanctities of art violated for the 
sake of conventional propriety; and what should be 
instinctively regarded as holy, precious, and apart 
from the familiar, is made to wear a commonplace 
aspect. 

Jeffrey seems to have mistaken a zest for external 
charms for a sympathy with poetical experience. 
Even his essay on Beauty, in the Encyclopaedia 
Britannica, is commended by his biographer for its 



LORD JEFFREY. 215 

graceful ingenuity, and not for sympathetic insight or 
profound analysis. His flippancy, however pleasant 
when expended on casual topics, is often intolerable 
as applied to men of genius. He sees that Joanna 
Baillie is a "nice old woman," but faintly realizes 
the positive grandeur of feeling which, like a solemn 
atmosphere, exhales from Basil and De Montford; 
he designates faults in Southey's poems, and recog- 
nizes the looming of his gorgeous fancy, as one 
might point out an agreeable pattern of chintz 5 
he is very charitably disposed towards " Tommy 
Campbell," wonders at the "rapidity and facility" 
of Burns, and thinks, with his own " present fortune 
and influence," he could have preserved him a long 
time ; he is of opinion that "Wordsworth, upon 
acquaintance, is " not the least lakish, or even in a 
degree poetical, but rather a hard and sensible worldly 
sort of a man " ; and that Crabbe, " the wretch, has 
outrageous faults ;" he writes dunning letters to 
Horner, urging him to "do" Malthus or Sismondi, 
very much as a sea-captain might write to his mate to 
scrape a deck, or a farmer order his man to hoe a 
field of potatoes; he praises Dickens's "Notes" on 
this country, as shallow a book of travels as ever 
appeared, but does not relish the character of Micaw- 
ber, one of the best creations of the author ; and he 
indulges in reminiscences of the New York Park and 
Bloomingdale, without having taken the trouble, dur- 



216 THE REVIEWER : 

ing some months' residence in that city, to go up the 
H udson. 

The most creditable of his literary tastes were his 
-aplniiration of Sir James Mackintosh, and his sensi- 
bility to the pathos of such characters as Little 
Nell and Tom Pinch. Indeed, the " gentle sobs" he 
confesses, and the hearty appreciation he felt towards 
the humane novelist, seem to indicate that, with 
advancing life, his nature mellowed and his sensibili- 
ties deepened. A kindness for men of genius, which 
led him frequently to offer them judicious advice 
and pecuniary aid, is one of Jeffrey's most excellent 
traits ; and a social enterprise which made his house 
the centre of intellectual companionship in Edinburgh, 
and induced habits of genial intercourse among his 
contemporaries, men of state, letters, and science, is 
also to be regarded as a public benefit. Nor less 
frankly should be acknowledged his unsullied honour, 
refined hospitality, habits of patient industry, and free 
and often brilliant conversation. Eut these benign 
and useful qualities, while they challenge respect and 
gratitude, and endear the memory of Jeffrey, do not 
give authority to his principles of literary judgment, or 
sanction his claim to be the expositor of the highest 
literature and the deepest truth. 

It is difficult to realize that the amiable character 
depicted in these volumes is the same individual 
whose critical severity once caused such a flutter in 



LORD JEFFREY. 217 

the dovecote of authors ; whose opinion was expected 
with almost the trepidation of a judicial sentence, 
and whose praise and rebuke were deemed, by so 
large and respectable an audience, as final tests of 
literary rank. Lord Cockburn assumes, what, indeed, 
facts seem greatly to confirm, that his award was 
usually conscientious, and that he had warmly at 
heart the best interests of literature as he understood 
them. Of malice or selfish views there is scarcely 
any evidence ; and his personal feelings towards the 
very writers he most stringently condemned appear 
to have been kind. There is a striking contrast 
between the amenities of taste, good fellowship, 
domesticity, and rural enjoyment, amid which he 
lived, and the idea of a ferocious critic so generally 
identified with his name. It is another and a memora- 
ble instance of the want of correspondence, in essential 
traits, between authorship and character. To have 
inspired confidence, respect, and affection to the extent 
visible in his memoirs, among the most gifted and the 
best men of his day, is ample proof of the merit 
claimed in his behalf by the friend who describes his 
career. Yet even admitting the conclusion drawn 
from these premises, — that " he was the founder of a 
new system of criticism, and this a higher one than 
had ever existed," and that " as an editor and a 
writer he did as much to improve his country and the 
world as can almost ever be done by discussion, by 
a single man," — there is a progressive as well as a 



218 THE REVIEWER : 

retrospective standard, an essential as well as a com- 
parative test, and a degree not less than an extent of 
insight to which such a writer is amenable, and by 
which alone he can be philosophically estimated. It 
is doubtless a most useful and desirable object of 
criticism to elucidate the art and discover the moral 
influence of literature; the censor in both these 
spheres is a requisite minister to social welfare ; but 
they do not cover the whole ground. Genius may 
transgress an acknowledged law of taste in obedience 
to a higher law of truth ; and the so-called moral of a 
work may be, and often is, misinterpreted by con- 
ventional rules. Comprehensive sympathies, as well 
as quick perception, recognition of the original, as 
well as knowledge of the prescriptive, are needful 
qualities in the critic. Loyalty to intuitive senti- 
ment, as well as to external standards, is demanded ; 
and a catholic temper, which embraces with cor- 
diality the idiosyncrasies that invariably distinguish 
original minds, is indispensable to their appreciation. 

It is not what Lord Jeffrey "rather likes," or what 
" will never do " in his opinion, that disposes of those 
appeals to the human soul which the truly gifted 
utter, and to which mankind respond ; and the 
courteous dogmatism and the jaunty grace with which 
this famous reviewer sometimes pronounces upon the 
calibre and the mission of the priests of nature, 
are, therefore, not only inadmissible, but frequently 
impertinent. One is occasionally reminded of Charles 



LORD JEFFREY. 219 

Lamb's impatience at the literal character of the 
Scotch mind, and his quaint anecdotes to illustrate it, 
in Jeffrey's positive rule-and-compass style when dis- 
cussing the productions of genuine poets. How to 
enjoy these benefactions is as important a lesson as 
how to judge them ; and it is no less an evidence of 
discrimination deeply to feel beauties than readily to 
pick flaws. 

The art of philosophizing attractively upon literary 
and political questions of immediate interest, was 
indeed, excellently illustrated by Jeffrey, in those 
instances which did not surpass his power of insight. 
Where the personal feelings were not engaged, it 
was also an agreeable pastime to follow his de- 
structive feats ; see him annihilate a poetaster, or 
insinuate away the pretensions of a book-wright. 
This he did in so cool a manner, and with such a 
gentlemanly sneer and refinement of badinage, that 
it was like watching an elegant fencing-match, or 
capital shots in a pistol-gallery. The process and 
the principle, however, of this kind of reviewing 
were based upon that Trench philosophy which 
delights in ridicule and ignores reverence. Accord- 
ingly its spirit is essentially sceptical, fault-finding, 
narrow, and smart, and therefore quite inapplicable 
to the intuitive, the latent, delicate, and more lofty 
emanations of literature. Its office is to deal with 
talent not genius, with attainments not inspiration — 
with the form and rationale, not with the minute 



220 THE REVIEWER : 

principles and divine mysteries of life. Where know- 
ledge, tact, and wit were available, Jeffrey shone. 
He possessed a remarkable degree of what may be 
called the eloquence of sense, but he lacked soul — 
the assimilating and revealing principle in man. 
His intellect needed humanizing. He looked upon 
an author objectively, with a scientific not a sym- 
pathetic vision, and therefore, as regards the highest, 
never came into a legitimate relation with them. He 
wanted that enthusiasm which, if it sometimes ex- 
aggerates merit and is blind to defects, yet always 
warms the mind into an unity of perception and an 
intensity of observation, which opens new vistas of 
truth. Jeffrey's analytical power is not denied, but 
one only demurs at the extent of authority as a critic 
which, by virtue of it, he claimed. There is a cap- 
tious tone in his reviews of poets, an unimpassioned 
statement, a self-possessed balancing of the scales 
of justice, quite too mechanical to be endured with 
patience. He thrusts himself arrogantly into a 
sphere of thought or feeling sacred to thousands, 
and peers about with the bold curiosity of a success- 
ful attorney. He really appreciates only knowledge, 
reasoning power, and the external laws of taste ; and 
whatever appealed to instincts which were deficient 
in him, he pronounced either false or absurd. 

A man of any real modesty or respect for others, 
would hesitate before utterly condemning a foreign 
work held in universal admiration in the country of its 



LORD JEFFREY. 221 

origin ; and would ascribe the fact of its not impressing 
him, to his own ignorance of the language or insensi- 
bility of the sentiment. Jeffrey, on the contrary, 
flippantly ridicules as puerile and meaningless, the 
favourite fiction of the Germans, while confessedly 
ignorant of their language, and obviously wanting that 
imagination to which it appeals. He rails against the 
errors of Alfieri, Swift, and Burns, with a scornful 
hardihood that shows how little their genius won his 
sympathies or their misfortunes touched his heart. 

With a practical gauge, regulated by the intellectual 
tone of an Edinburgh clique, and having for its highest 
standard only intelligence and the laws of outward 
morality, he discusses the lives of such men without a 
capacity to enter into their motives, to appreciate the 
circumstances in which they were placed, or to estimate 
the trials and triumphs of their natures. He ascribes 
Eranklin's self-education to the antagonism of an un- 
favourable situation rather than to his own perseverance 
and love of knowledge ; and is chiefly struck in Cowper's 
poetry with the ballad on the loss of the Eoyal George. 
A novel of Miss Edgeworth, in which prudence and 
common sense are the ideal of human character, he can 
heartily praise ; a well-written, authentic narrative, 
like Irving' s Life of Columbus, or a faithful and 
graphic biography like the Memoirs of Colonel 
Hutchinson, he gives a very intelligent account of^ 
but, not content with such useful labours, he has the 
temerity to wander out of his course, and tell the 



222 THE REVIEWER : 

world that the Excursion " will never do," and that 
the author of Genevieve and the Ancient Mariner is a 
foolish mystic. His want of enthusiasm, however, in 
certain instances, is advantageous to a fair judgment, 
where works of pure imagination or sentiment are not 
in question. Thus, having cherished no unreasonable 
anticipations in regard to Fox's Life of James I., he 
was not disappointed on its appearance, like the rest 
of the world, but did the author and his book critical 
justice ; and he exhibited with great candour the 
brilliant ideas of Madame de Stael, while he repudiated 
her perfectionist theories. Indeed, one of the greatest 
merits of Jeffrey, is his able synopsis of works of fact 
and reasoning. He sums up a book as he would a 
case, and makes a statement to the literary world 
with the ingenious brevity and emphasis that he would 
use to a jury. One great reason of the popularity of 
the Edinburgh Eeview was that he made it an intel- 
ligent and readable epitome of current literature. 

Jeffrey claims a high and consistent morality for 
his long series of articles. It is true he always speaks 
disapprovingly of the errors of genius ; but we fail to 
perceive in them that enlarged and tender spirit of 
humanity which softens judgment and throws the 
mantle of charity over the shivering form exposed 
to the pitiless world. He failed in parliament not- 
withstanding the shrill melody of his voice ; it was 
too piercing to fascinate ; and so we imagine his mind 
was too acute to embrace cordially the interests and 



LORD JEFFREY. 223 

mysteries of his race. Upon the former his atten- 
tion was too exclusively fixed ; for the latter he had 
not that sentiment of awe which gives a solemn 
meaning and a sublime pity to the contemplation of 
genius. Copious in information, vivacious in expres- 
sion, dogmatical in tone, Jeffrey's talk, like his 
writing, was animated, witty, and fluent ; he was often 
abstracted in manner, his conversation was inter- 
larded with French epithets, and, in seclusion, he 
was often depressed. There was more tact and less 
seriousness of purpose and feeling about him than any 
of his brilliant contemporaries ; and, therefore, his 
writings have not the same standard value. He 
sacrificed to the immediate and was a representative 
of the times. 

There was, with all his apparent readiness and 
candour, no little prudence in his character. He 
was a kind of sublimated Yankee, and the idea of 
a clever literary Scotchman. The poets he really 
did appreciate are Campbell and Crabbe — the one 
by his direct rhetoric and high finish, and the 
other by his detail and Flemish tone, rendered 
themselves intelligible to Jeffrey ; this was partially 
the case also with Byron, Moore, and Keats ; but 
where they trench upon the highly imaginative or 
earnestly sentimental, he is obviously nonplussed. It 
is on account of the want of completeness in Jeffrey's 
views and sympathies that one is disposed to 
regard him as an able reviewer instead of a great 



224 LORD JEFFREY. 

critic. The evidence of this may be found in the 
very small quantity of his voluminous writings that 
now possesses any vital interest and permanent 
beauty ; so many of his speculations want originality 
and a solid basis, and so many of his judgments have 
been superseded, that only here and there, the light- 
some aptness of a remark, the grace of a description, 
or the analytical justice of a comment, detain us ; 
while the sensible and pleasing tone of the style 
vividly realizes the cause of the sway once enjoyed 
by this autocrat of literature. 



THE CIVILIAN: 
G0VEKNET7E MOEEIS. 

Theee is an efficiency of character which, like the 
latent forces of nature, is made visible only by its 
results. It collects with the quietude of the electric 
fluid, and is silently diffused again or rapidly dis- 
charged, with no lingering traces of its energies but 
such as thoughtful observation reveals. Unlike the 
author or the artist, men thus endowed build up no 
permanent memorial of their renown, no distinctive 
and characteristic result of their lives, like a statue or 
a poem ; neither are their names always associated 
with a great event or sacred occasion, like those which 
embalm the warrior's fame. Having more self- 
respect than desire of glory, their great object is 
immediate utility; their thought and action blend 
with and often direct the current of events, but with 
an unostentatious power that conceals their agency. 
As the dew condenses and the snow-flakes are woven, 
as the frost colours and the night-breeze strips the 

Q 



226 THE CIVILIAN: 

forest — they accomplish great changes in human 
affairs, and exert a wide and potent sway, without any 
parade of means and by a process that challenges no 
recognition. It is only when we attentively mark the 
effect and consider the method, that we realize, in 
such instances, what may be called the genius of 
character. 

The essential difference between this species of 
greatness, and that which is tangibly embodied, is to 
be traced to the fact that, in the former, direct utility, 
and in the latter, abstract taste is consulted ; a sense 
of truth, of right, of efficiency is the inspiration of 
the one, and a sense of beauty of the other. The 
superiority that is wholly intellectual or moral, when 
developed in action, and to meet the exigencies of 
society, incarnates itself too widely, sends forth too 
liberal ideas and is too variously active, to provide for 
its own glory. There is an essential disinterestedness 
in the position and spirit of such greatness ; uncon- 
scious of self, absorbed in broad views, and as zealous 
in public spirit as ordinary men are in private interest, 
this rare and noble class of beings exercise a genial 
supervision and providential wisdom, with a dignity, 
confidence, and good faith that as clearly designates 
them to be legitimate counsellors in national affairs, 
as the appearance of a great epic shows the 
advent of a poet, or the spontaneous apotheosis of a 
hero indicates the ordained leader. The American 
revolution elicited a wonderful degree of this species 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 227 

of character. To its prevalence at that epoch has 
been justly ascribed the ultimate success of the ex- 
periment; for all the valour displayed in the camp 
would have been inadequate had it not been sustained 
by equal wisdom and firmness in the council. The 
mind of the country was enlisted in the struggle not 
less than its bone and muscle ; and moral kept alive 
physical courage. The undismayed spirit of the 
people was, in a great measure, owing to a sublime 
trust in the integrity and intelligence of their leaders ; 
and these qualities were sometimes embodied in an 
unambitious, devoted activity, more versatile, respon- 
sible and unpromising than ever before engaged the 
gifted spirits of a nation. The services thus rendered, 
were often utterly devoid of any scope for distinction : 
they seldom gave any vantage ground to the desire for 
brilliant results, and were often barren even of the 
excitement of adventure ; they were grave, matter-of- 
fact, and discouraging toils — involving more per- 
sonal discomfort than peril, demanding more prudence 
than zeal, and more patience than ingenuity : and yet 
essential to the great end in view, the prospect and 
hope of which was their exclusive motive. To this 
kind of fidelity the triumph of American principles is 
to be ascribed ; and instead of seeking their origin in 
men of extraordinary genius we must look for them 
to the philosophy of character. 

Pew American civilians offer so noble an example as 
Q-overneur Morris. One of his ancestors is said to 



228 



THE CIVILIAN 



have been distinguished as a leader in Cromwell's 
army; weary of military life, he embarked for the 
West Indies, and thence came to New York, where he 
purchased three thousand acres of land with manorial 
privileges in the vicinity of Haerlem, an estate still 
known as Morrissiana. The descendants of this 
colonist took an active part in public affairs in this 
and the adjacent states ; a vein of eccentricity, often 
the accompaniment of originality of mind and inde" 
pendence of spirit seems to have always marked the 
family. Groverneur Morris was born on the paternal 
domain, on the thirty-first of January, 1752. His 
boyhood was devoted to rambling over his father's 
extensive farm, and he then indulged a taste for rural 
freedom and enjoyment, to which he returned in later 
years with undiminished zest and entire contentment. 
He was placed, when quite young, with a French 
teacher at New Eochelle, and thus acquired the 
facility in that language which proved so useful to 
him during his long residence in France. His college 
life was unusually brilliant, chiefly on account of the 
rhetorical ability to which it gave scope and impulse ; 
and he was eminent for his attainments in Latin and 
mathematics; graduating with honour at a very early 
age, he entered with zeal upon the study of law, and 
was just rising to professional distinction when the 
difficulties between Great Britain and her American 
colonies broke out. He was soon deeply involved in 
the responsible toils of the Revolution ; subsequently 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 229 

removed to Philadelphia and successfully practised at 
the bar ; went abroad and was appointed minister to 
France, travelled extensively after being freed from 
official duties, and returned home to close his honour- 
able and useful career in the home of his childhood. 
Such is an external outline of the life of G-overneur 
Morris ; but the filling up abounds with details 
seldom equalled in interest and value, in the merely 
civic life of a republican. As a legislator, financier, 
political essayist, ambassador, orator, and private 
gentleman, Groverneur Morris co-operated with the 
leading spirits of a revolutionary age rich in eminent 
characters ; greatly influenced the councils which 
ruled the destinies of an infant nation ; grappled, with 
bold intelligence, the chaotic but pregnant elements 
of society and government ; set a noble example of 
integrity and candour as an ally and a patriot ; and 
infused a philosophic spirit and an efficient wisdom 
into every interest and sphere with which he came in 
contact. 

His life was a scene of versatile activity. He 
carried on his law practice, Congressional duties, 
secret embassies, and extensive correspondence, with 
assiduity during the whole American war ; while 
abroad, he engaged in large mercantile speculations, 
prosecuted private claims, was an habitue of the 
best society, and faithfully discharged absorbing di- 
plomatic obligations with self-possessed industry. 
His diary in France — a collection of hasty data, 



230 THE CIVILIAN : 

evinces an uninterrupted and efficient activity — 
calling for the constant exercise of sagacity, wisdom 
and reflection, while he used to declare that the 
multiplicity of his duties at home, during the seven 
years succeeding the Declaration of Independence, 
notwithstanding habits of method and application, 
prevented his keeping any notes of his own remarkable 
experience. The American traveller in Europe is 
struck with the frequency of inscriptions on public 
works announcing the prince or pontiff to whose 
benevolent zeal any local improvement is attributable. 
To perpetuate, in every manner, the memory of 
national benefactors, is one of the conservative 
features of hereditary rule. "With us it is quite other- 
wise. The process of national growth seems to go 
on, in republics, like the development of nature — a 
constant alternation of forces, each destined to be 
absorbed in the other — the deeds of one generation to 
fertilize the arena of the next — and the future to 
be so exclusively contemplated, as to shut out of 
view the past. It is on this account that literature 
should attest departed worth, with authentic and 
careful emphasis, in a republic ; and especially strive 
to do justice to those unpretending yet essential 
merits which result from character rather than genius, 
and like the strains of great vocalists, leave no record 
but that which lingers in the souls they have warmed 
and exalted. A brief synopsis of the public life of 
G-overneur Morris will give but an inadequate idea 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 231 

of its utility ; but it may serve to illustrate its scope 
and aim. At the age of eighteen he began to en- 
lighten the minds of his countrymen on a subject of 
vital moment to their interests: but in regard to 
which their provincial experience had afforded them 
little insight. Political economy was then a science 
in embryo, and finance a branch very imperfectly 
understood; questions relating to the principles of 
trade, debt and credit, exchange and a circulating 
medium were rife in the different states, when the 
adventurous stripling astonished his elders by the 
original views, the acute reasoning, and the thorough 
knowledge with which he discussed them in the 
journals of the day. These and subsequent financial 
essays both instructed and influenced public sentiment, 
and prepared the way for whatever liberal and 
enlightened policy on this and kindred subjects was 
adopted. The reputation of G-overneur Morris, by 
these precocious writings, and several eloquent pleas 
to juries, was thus very early established in the colony. 
He was accordingly chosen a member of the first 
Provincial Congress; and regularly afterwards took 
his seat in the various assemblies there originated, 
under the names of Convention, Committee of Safety, 
and Congress, until he was duly elected to the 
Continental Congress. In these bodies his abilities 
were continually tasked, as a parliamentary orator, 
a private counsellor, and an efficient agent. He 
passed the hours between eleven and three in the 



232 THE CIVILIAN : 

House, dispatched, at intervals, his professional 
affairs, and transacted the business of three com- 
mittees of which he was chairman — those on the 
commissary, quarter-master's, and medical departments 
of the army, which was, most of the time, in a 
condition that rendered these duties of the most 
onerous description. "When the committees of 
correspondence were formed, he was appointed to 
"Westchester county, and the gallant Montgomery to 
Duchess. He devised a feasible and judicious plan to 
defray the expenses of the war, when that he pro- 
posed for a reconciliation with England proved 
abortive. When the commander-in-chief approached 
on his way to join the army at the north, Groverneur 
Morris was one of those appointed to meet him at 
Newark, and there commenced the mutual esteem 
and entire confidence between them that never 
diminished. His speech in favour of Independence, 
in the first Congress, was as remarkable for logical 
force as that of Patrick Henry for rhetorical fire ; he 
was soon after sent on a mission to the Congress 
assembled at Philadelphia, appointed a commissioner 
to organize the new government, and sent to confer 
with General Schuyler, at Port Edward, " on the 
means to be used by the state in aid of his plans of 
defence or resistance." "We next find him a delegate 
to Massachusetts in a convention to arrange 
"currency and prices" — a mission which was pre- 
cluded by a more peremptory call to "Washington's 



GOVERXEUR MORRIS. 233 

head-quarters. He was one of the five delegates 
elected on the dissolution of the Xew York con- 
vention that formed the constitution of the state, to 
represent her in the meantime. In that terrible 
crisis when the army were encamped at Valley Forge, 
and all was confusion, foreboding and privation, 
G-overneur Morris was chosen as the bearer of 
encouragement and counsel to the army, and proved 
a most judicious and acceptable coadjutor with his 
beloved chief, in reducing it to something like order 
and comfort. His pen was then employed to draw up 
instructions to General Gates, and a detailed account 
of the existent state of public affairs for the use of 
Congress. His views on the appointment of 
foreigners to military office, on providing for the 
army, and other exigencies of the times, are im- 
pressively unfolded in his correspondence with 
Washington. He drafted an able and timely address 
to the American people on the prosperous crisis 
attending the French alliance; and wrote for Dr. 
Franklin to lay before the French ministry, " Ob- 
servations on the Finances of America." In February, 

1779, we find him chairman of the committee " to 
consider the dispatches from the American Com- 
missioners abroad, and communications from the 
French minister in the United States" — " in its 
character and consequences" — it has been said 
" perhaps the most important during the war." In 

1780, during the great fiscal depression, he published 



234 THE CIVILIAN 3 

in a Philadelphia journal, a series of methodical 
condensed and intelligent papers on the subject of 
continental currency and finance, and was soon after 
appointed assistant-financier to Bobert Morris. 
"With General Knox, he was delegated by "Washington 
to consult with the agents of Sir Henry Clinton on 
an exchange of prisoners. He corresponded with the 
French minister on the trade with the "West Indies, 
and induced desirable modifications of our commercial 
treaties. 

While residing at the French capital, and mingling 
with more curiosity than sympathy in its social circles, 
he was appointed by "Washington a Commissioner to 
England. Although his ill-success in effecting any 
immediate arrangement of the pending difficulties, has 
been ascribed to the abrupt manner which character- 
ized his interviews with Pitt and the Duke of Leeds, 
and also to a breach of diplomatic courtesy, to which a 
high sense of honour impelled him, in communicating 
to the French minister then resident in London, the 
terms of the proposed treaty ; it seems, on the other 
hand, to be generally conceded that the policy of the 
English government, at this epoch, was delay, in order 
to await the issue of the continental troubles before 
making definite terms with the United States. On 
his return to Paris, Groverneur Morris received intel- 
ligence of his appointment as minister to France. He 
held the office at a terrible political crisis, discharged 
its varied duties with eminent fidelity, and although 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 235 

restrained by the delicacy of his position from taking 
an active part in the affairs of the kingdom, he exer- 
cised a brave humanity in sheltering refugees, pre- 
serving the funds of the royal family, and transmitting 
them to the exiles, using every available means to 
obtain the liberation of Lafayette, securing the lives 
and property of his own countrymen, and maintaining 
the dignity of the nation he represented. 

The interval between his retirement from this office 
and his return home, was passed in visiting Switzer- 
land, Germany, and other parts of Europe. During 
this tour his observant mind was constantly engaged — 
not, however, upon the objects that usually attract 
cultivated travellers from America ; for art and anti- 
quity his taste was not so evident as for those aspects 
and interests of national life which he esteemed of 
more practical importance. lie collected information 
on political and commercial topics, and in regard to 
manufactures and agriculture. Society, however, was 
his chosen field, and conversation his favourite re- 
source — "the dumb circle round a card- table" being 
his aversion. In Vienna, Berlin, and other capitals, 
he seems to have been regarded from two entirely 
opposite points of view — the boldness and originality 
of his thoughts, and the manner of expressing them, 
giving offence to some and delight to others. His 
return home, after a wearisome voyage, was cordially 
welcomed ; he immediately rebuilt the old homestead 
and adorned his ancestral domain; was elected to 



236 THE CIVILIAN : 

Congress, where his speeches on the Louisiana ques- 
tion, and other topics of the day, several orations 
delivered in New York, and his successful advocacy of 
the Erie Canal, attest the continuance of his public 
spirit. Occasional journeys, an extensive correspond- 
ence, the care of his estate, and a liberal hospitality, 
agreeably diversified the remainder of his life. 

The foresight which seems so natural to enlarged 
views, was a prominent trait in Groverneur Morris. His 
opinions were not the sudden conjectures of a heated 
fancy, nor the daring speculations of an undisciplined 
intellect. He looked calmly on a question, espoused 
a cause with his judgment not less than with his 
heart, and, having done so, knew how to abide the 
issue with tranquil manliness. There was nothing 
fanatical in his sentiments ; they were generous, bold, 
and ardent ; but they were also well-considered, reli- 
able, and modified by reason and experience. Accord- 
ingly he looked beyond the limits of party, and dis- 
dained the cant of faction ; on broad, solid, and ele- 
vated ground he loved to stand and survey his coun- 
try, and the world. To his mental vision, therefore, 
" coming events cast their shadows before" — for his 
gaze was not absorbed in the details of adjacent life, 
or the single vista of perverse ambition, but ranged 
far and wide, quickened by a spirit of enlightened 
curiosity and genuine patriotic sympathies. Many 
instances might be cited of the prescience of Gover- 
neur Morris. His consistent faith in the measures 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 237 

of Washington, and the intelligent support he uni- 
formly yielded him, under all circumstances, was the 
instinctive adherence of a kindred spirit. Before the 
Revolution broke out, he saw the natural unity of the 
American States, and advocated a plan for " uniting 
the whole continent in one grand legislature." At 
the very outset of the Trench Revolution, he antici- 
pated the course of the people, and justly denned the 
true policy of the Court. His letter to Lafayette dis- 
tinctly presages the result to which he was uncon- 
sciously advancing, and breathes the genuine counsel 
of enlightened affection. One of the first to perceive 
the necessity of active intercourse between the sea- 
board and the interior of our own country, he broached 
in conversation, the idea of the Erie Canal at a time 
when it was deemed chimerical, steadfastly advocated 
the project, and greatly contributed to its achievement. 
The broad avenues which now intersect the metropolis 
of New York, and constituting its redeeming feature, 
were first suggested and successfully advocated by 
G-overneur Morris. At a period when the municipal 
authorities proposed to save the expense of a mar- 
ble facing to the back of the City Hall, on the 
ground that it would never be seen except from 
the suburbs, unmoved by the sneers of narrow- 
minded incredulity, he urged that the city should 
be laid out as far as Haerlem. Our present coinage 
is based upon Ins plan, although modified from its 
original scheme ; and he originated the first bank 



238 THE CIVILIAN : 

in the country upon principles, the utility of which 
experience has amply proved. Instead of dating 
American liberty from the Stamp Act, he traced it to 
the prosecution of Peter Zenger, a printer in the 
colony of New York— for an alleged libel — because 
that event revealed the philosophy of freedom, both 
of thought and speech, as an inborn human right, so 
nobly set forth in Milton's treatise on " Unlicensed 
Printing." It was this habitual reversion to first prin- 
ciples, this testing of every question by the dictates of 
his own understanding rather than by the watchwords 
of prejudice, that marked G-overneur Morris as a 
superior man even in an age of great and active intel- 
ligence. He was a philosopher rather than a politi- 
cian. Averse to the separation of the colonies, except 
on the principle of self-preservation, he was among 
the most able champions of conciliatory measures ; 
but, when they proved ineffectual, he engaged with 
all his mind and will, in the struggle for independence 
— at an almost entire sacrifice of private interest and 
feeling, being unsustained by his family and some of 
his earliest friends. Yet he was no ^discriminating 
republican. In the habits, character, and prospects of 
his own countrymen, he recognized a natural aptitude 
for the form of government under which they have so 
greatly advanced and prospered; but in France the 
case presented itself to his mind in quite a different 
light ; there he told Lafayette, with prophetic wisdom, 
that he was " opposed to democracy from regard to 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 239 

liberty." Upon the same conviction that the welfare of 
France was most secure under legitimate monarchical 
rule, were founded the sentiments of his oration on the 
return of the Bourbons, yet memorable in New York 
for the offence it gave to many of his fellow-citizens, 
and the bold eloquence it developed in the orator. 
He was equally misjudged for maintaining the expedi- 
ency of consolidating the public debts after the war 
— a measure regarded with a jealous eye by the ardent 
upholders of state rights, but one espoused by Grover- 
neur Morris, for the sake of the more liberal and wise 
policy of combining their interests and fostering the 
new-born and unconfirmed national sentiment. Thus, 
in all contingencies, he anticipated the future great- 
ness of the country to whose welfare the flower of 
his youth was devoted ; he saw the majestic tree in 
the swelling germ. It was the habit of his mind to 
elicit the universal from the special, and to seize on 
the central idea and essential principles, instead of occu- 
pying himself with the incidental and temporary. Thus 
when the charges against Silas Deane were discussed 
in Congress, upon the authority of Thomas Paine, 
Groverneur Morris argued for the latter' s removal 
from his office, on the ground that the honour due to 
the nation's ally was involved, while the incumbent 
had no social or personal claims — but was an adven- 
turer. This was a statement of the case as it would 
appear to a European spectator, at a time when few 
in our country's councils had the perspicacity to take 



240 THE CIVILIAN : 

such a view. Personal ill-will, growing out of a news- 
paper controversy, has, indeed, been charged upon the 
legislator in this instance ; but this does not corre- 
spond with the efforts he subsequently made in France 
for Paine' s liberation, when the latter was far more 
degraded and in peril of his life. 

Although, as we have seen, the views of G-overneur 
Morris were comprehensive, they were also eminently 
practical. He was one of those efficient philosophers 
who understand the actual worth of abstract truth, 
and know intuitively how far it can be applied to 
human affairs with utility and satisfaction. In our 
day, there has been exhibited a mischievous fanaticism 
which advocates the realization of what is abstractly 
right and true, without any regard to existent circum- 
stances. Similar principles, carried out by violence, 
occasioned the most dreadful results of the French 
[Revolution; and there are always disciples enough 
of any doctrine to espouse which secures notoriety, 
however obviously detrimental it may be to the 
welfare of humanity, and the permanent interests of 
liberty or truth. The practical wisdom of Groverneur 
Morris was early manifested in his financial essays ; 
it appears conspicuously in his revolutionary writings 
and speeches; it induced him to warn Lafayette of 
Mirabeau, to suggest the basis of a popular constitu- 
tion to Louis, and to co-operate with Clinton in his 
grand plans of internal improvement, upon which 
rest the prosperity of their native state. Time has 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 241 

proved the feasibility of his large practical concep- 
tions, political and commercial ; his genius for affairs 
has seldom been surpassed ; and its evidences are yet 
apparent though comparatively unacknowledged. 

With this breadth of purpose and fertility of 
thought, there, however, blended a peremptory manner 
which sometimes led Groverneur Morris to check 
garrulity with a lofty impatience, and also imparted 
a somewhat dictatorial tone to his intercourse. With 
his frankness, too, there was united a certain love of 
discipline and courtly dignity that were not always 
pleasing to the ultra democratic among his country- 
men. With the local prejudice and social conformity 
of New England, he had no sympathy, but seems to 
have inherited the dislike of Yankee customs and 
modes of feeling, which induced his father to prohibit 
his children, by will, a New England education. The 
elements of humanity were liberally dispensed to him. 
He did not live exclusively in his intellect and public 
spirit ; but was a genuine lover of ease and pleasure 
had a natural taste for elegance and luxury, and knew 
how to enjoy as well as how to work. Throughout 
the most active part of his life, however, he never 
allowed the one function to infringe upon the other, 
but scrupulously kept them apart. It has been justly 
said of him, that " he never shrunk from any task ; 
and never commenced one which he left unfinished." 
Indeed, his faculty consisted mainly in a rare power 
of concentration. He could converge the light of his 



242 THE CIVILIAN : 

mind and the force of his emotions, at Trill: and 
therefore, whether business or pleasure enlisted him, 
the result was never equivocal. His moral power was 
integrity ; he was direct, open, sincere, a thorough, 
uncompromising and zealous devotee of truth in 
philosophy, social relations, and life. Hence his 
courage, self-respect, and simplicity — rendering him 
altogether a fine specimen of a republican gentle- 
man. His commanding figure, expressive features, 
and strong, emphatic articulation, combined as they 
were with superior intellectual gifts, justify Madame 
de Stael's remark to him — Monsieur, vous avez Vair 
tres imposant. He was equally at home when absorbed 
in abstruse inquiries and conviviality, amusement and 
study, utility and agreeableness ; and possessed that 
completeness of nature which is essential to manhood. 
His generosity was evinced in numerous and unosten- 
tatious services to the unfortunate ; and his letter to a 
tory friend, who desired to return to America, breathes 
the true spirit of magnanimity. He drafted the Con- 
stitution of the United States. Never being solicitous 
for the credit due to his patriotic labours, many services 
are claimed, in his behalf by his friends, which nomi- 
nally belong to those with whom he was associated 
in public life. He often expressed the conviction 
that his own mind was more indebted for lucid and 
reliable principles of judgment and action to Eobert 
H. Morris than to any other friend. Having married a 
niece of John Randolph, the latter was often his guest, 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 243 

and the keen encounters which would naturally occur 
between two such emphatic yet opposite characters, 
may readily be imagined. The manner in which his 
marriage occurred is an instance of that eccentricity 
to which we have alluded as indicating the originality 
and independence which marked his private not less 
than his public life. He had invited a large number 
of his relatives to a Christmas dinner, and, having 
greeted them all with his usual hospitality, left the 
room, and soon returned with his intended bride and 
a clergyman, who instantly performed the marriage 
ceremony, to the astonishment of all the guests, and 
the disappointment of those among them who expected 
to inherit the estate. His behaviour, when the acci- 
dent occurred by which he lost his leg, was equally 
characteristic. While in attendance upon Congress, 
in Philadelphia, his horses having taken fright in 
consequence of some disturbance in the street, he was 
thrown from his phaeton, and so severely injured in 
the knee-joint, that amputation of the lower limb 
was deemed necessary. He conversed not only with 
calmness but with humour over his misfortune ; and 
told the experienced surgeons that they had already 
sufficient reputation, and he preferred giving the 
operation to a young medical friend, that he might 
have the credit of it to advance his practice. When 
abroad he tried several very artistic substitutes for 
his lost member; but naturally impatient of decep- 
tion, even in costume, he continued to use a stump 



244 THE CIVILIAN : 

attached to the fractured leg, and managed to accom- 
modate his locomotion to this inconvenience without 
in the least impairing the dignity of his carriage. 
Indeed, it served him an excellent purpose on one 
occasion, for the cry of "aristocrat!" being raised 
against him in the streets of Paris, for appearing in 
his carriage, when no such vehicles were allowed by 
the mob — he was surrounded by a blood-thirsty 
crowd, who threatened his life ; but he coolly thrust 
his wooden leg out of the window, and cried out — 
" An aristocrat ? Yes ; who lost his limb in the cause 
of American liberty!" The reaction was instanta- 
neous ; he was not only allowed to proceed, but 
vehemently cheered on his way. He had an old- 
fashioned but impressive manner of expressing him- 
self, which, though at this day it might be considered 
somewhat ostentatious, accorded with the large canes 
and buttons, the broad-skirted coats, and stately air 
in vogue when Copley's portraits truly represented 
the style of character and taste in dress that pre- 
vailed. A genuine Knickerbocker, in whose now ripe 
memory Groverneur Morris is the ideal of an American 
civilian, imitates with great effect, the tone, at once 
significant and dignified, with which he asked a pre- 
tentious literary aspirant who apologized for being 
late at dinner, by stating he had been engaged in 
forming a philosophical society — " Pray, where are 
your philosophers ?" and his reply to a friend who 
asked his son then a boy of four years old if he 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 245 

had yet read Robinson Crusoe and Jack the Giant 
Killer ? " Tell the gentleman — no ; but that you 
are acquainted with the lives of Gustavus Adolphus, 
and Charles of Sweden — the Twelth." There was ;i 
vein of what has been called Johnsonese in the 
rhetoric of GJ-overneur Morris, but it was underlaid by 
so much strong natural sense, and, in his deliberate 
efforts, vivified by such true enthusiasm, that it 
seemed quite appropriate to the man. He had all 
the requisites to sustain daring oratory. With a 
taste formed chiefly upon the French pulpit-eloquence, 
in its palmy days, his indulgence in personification — 
as when he invoked the shade of Perm, in a speech in 
Philadelphia — and especially in the apostrophes of 
his funeral orations, a man of less natural dignity and 
impressiveness, would have been in imminent danger 
of gliding from the sublime to the ridiculous ; but 
there was a singular unity of effect in the elocution 
of Groverneur Morris. Intelligent crowds hung in 
silent admiration upon his eloquence; and servants 
stopped open-mouthed, dish in hand, to catch his 
table-talk. His social privileges were not less rich 
than various; and enjoyed the signal advantages of 
that companionship with superior natures, which is 
quickened and sustained by mutual duties and genuine 
intellectual sympathy. It was his rare fortune to 
be intimate with the leading spirits of two nations, 
at epochs of social and political convulsion, which 
brought to the surface and into action the gifts and 



246 THE CIVILIAN : 

graces, as well as the passions of humanity. At home 
the esteemed associate of Schuyler, Greene, and the 
other brave chiefs of the army ; of Hamilton, Clinton, 
and all the eminent civic leaders of his time; the 
correspondent of public characters, embracing every 
species of distinction from that of Paul Jones to that 
of Thomas Jefferson; and abroad, on terms of the 
frankest intercourse with Necker and his gifted 
daughter, Marmontel, and the family of Orleans, he 
had the best opportunity to estimate the comparative 
benefits of fortune, rank, genius, society, form of 
government, modes of life, and principles of nature. 
His relation to Washington was of a kind that affords 
the best evidence of his worth. Their correspondence 
evidences the highest degree of mutual respect and 
confidence ; their views on public affairs are developed 
with an intelligent frankness and unanimity of senti- 
ment, pleasing to contemplate ; while the geniality 
of friendship incidentally appears in the " pigs and 
poultry" sent from Morrissiana to Mount Vernon; 
the commission "Washington gave his former counsel- 
lor, to purchase him a watch : and the candid letter 
of advice he wrote him on his appointment as minister 
to France. There was something kindred in the tone 
of both, however dissimilar in their endowments and 
career ; and in form so much were they alike that 
G-overneur Morris, when in Paris, stood for the figure 
of Hudson's statue of Washington. Notwithstanding 
the florid style of portions of the eulogy delivered on 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 247 

his beloved chief, at the public funeral in New York, 
Groverneur Morris drew his character with the great- 
est discrimination. It is said that a convivial party 
to which "Washington was invited, his remarkable 
traits were the subject of earnest discussion among 
the company ; and it was insisted that no one, how- 
ever intimate, would dare to take a liberty with him. 
In a foolish moment of elation, Groverneur Morris 
accepted a bet that he would venture upon the experi- 
ment. Accordingly, just before dinner was announced, 
as the guests stood in a group by the fire, he induced 
a somewhat lively chat, and in the midst of it, 
apparently from a casual impulse, clapped Washington 
familiarly on the shoulder. The latter turned and 
gave him a look of such mild and dignified yet grieved 
surprise, that even the self-possession of his friend 
deserted him. He shrunk from that gaze of astonish- 
ment at his forgetfulness of respect ; and the mirth of 
the company was instantly awed into silence. It is 
curious with this scene fresh in the mind, to revert to 
a passage in the eulogy to which we have referred : 
" You all have felt the reverence he inspired ; it was 
such that to command seemed in him but the exercise 
of an ordinary function, while others felt that a duty 
to obey (anterior to the injunctions of civil ordinance 
or the compulsions of a military code) was imposed 
by the high behests of nature." 

The quality which all history shows to be the basis 
of character is self-reliance. United with generosity 



248 THE CIVILIAN : 

and remarkable intelligence, this trait gives directness, 
force, and authority to the manner, word, and thought. 
We trace to this combination much of the energy of 
GroverneurMorris, and not a little of his social influence. 
Although, at times, his confidence in his own opinion 
and moods, degenerated into complacency and even 
offensive dogmatism — these were the extreme phases 
of an invaluable quality. The very same trust in his 
own resources and the deliberate convictions of his 
understanding, in the hour of earnest and momentous 
discussion, gave a profound emphasis to his discourse 
that won his audience ; and, in the hour of baffled 
endeavour and mortified hope, enabled him to impart 
vital encouragement to the desponding adherents of a 
glorious cause. In the society of rank and genius, it 
also endowed him, as the representative of liberal 
principles, with a dignity that met unawed the gaze 
of an opponent, and enabled him to estimate at their 
just value the grandeur and blandishments that subdue 
or captivate those not thus fortified. 

The men who thus exert a great and benign personal 
influence usually combine will, intellect, and disin- 
terestedness in their characters ; the two former in 
various proportions, but the latter always in an eminent 
degree. It is to such a union of high qualities that 
we ascribe the accurate and extensive insight for which 
such men are remarkable. Selfish instincts are pro- 
verbially short-sighted ; and the first requisite for 
comprehensive views is a position elevated above the 



GOVERNEUR MORRIS. 249 

level of private interest ; it is thus that the love of 
knowledge in the man of science and the enthusiasm 
for beauty in the poet and artist — lift them into a 
region where what is petty, commonplace, and material 
vanish in a limitless perspective. The same result is 
born of wide and intelligent sympathies — enlisting the 
feelings in enlarged social enterprises, the will in noble 
social reforms, and the mind in contemplations that 
embrace the welfare of nations and the good of hu- 
manity. In a field of action so often perverted to 
mere aggrandizement, as that of politics, the presence 
of a thoroughly honest, wise, and ardent humanitarian, 
like Groverneur Morris, is a spectacle that exalts our 
common nature. It affects us like an acted poem, and 
realizes in life the moral romance of history. 



THE PBOSE POET: 
NATHANIEL HAWTHOENE. 

I passed an hour lately in examining various sub- 
stances through a powerful microscope, with a man of 
science at my elbow, to expound their use and rela- 
tions. It was astonishing what revelations of wonder 
and beauty in common things were thus attained in 
a brief period. The eye amply directed, the attention 
wisely given, and the minute in nature enlarged and 
unfolded to the vision, a new sense of life and its 
marvels seemed created. What appeared but a 
slightly rough surface proved variegated iris-hued 
crystals ; a dot on a leaf became a moth's nest with 
its symmetrical eggs and their hairy pent-house : 
the cold passive oyster displayed heart and lungs in 
vital activity : the unfolding wings grew visible upon 
the seed-vessels of the ferns ; beetles looked like 
gorgeously emblazoned shields ; and the internal 
economy of the nauseous cock-roach, in its high and 
delicate organism, showed a remarkable affinity be- 
tween insect and animal life. 



THE PROSE POET. 251 

What the scientific use of lenses— the telescope and 
the microscope — does for us in relation to the external 
universe, the psychological writer achieves in regard 
to our own nature. He reveals its wonder and 
beauty, unfolds its complex laws, and makes us 
suddenly aware of the mysteries within and around 
individual life. In the guise of attractive fiction and 
sometimes of the most airy sketches, Hawthorne thus 
deals with his reader. His appeal is to consciousness, 
and he must, therefore, be met in a sympathetic rela- 
tion ; he shadows forth, — hints, — makes signs, — 
whispers, — muses aloud, — gives the key-note of 
melody, — puts us on a track ; in a word, addresses us 
as nature does — that is, unostentatiously, and with a 
significance not to be realized without reverent 
silence and gentle feeling — a sequestration from 
bustle and material care, and somewhat of the medita- 
tive insight and latent sensibility in which his themes 
are conceived and wrought out. Sometimes they are 
purely descriptive, bits of Flemish painting — so exact 
and arrayed in such mellow colours, that we uncon- 
sciously take them in as objects of sensitive rather 
than imaginative observation ; the " Old Manse" and 
the "Custom-house" — those quaint portals to his 
fairy-land, as peculiar and rich in contrast in their 
way, as Boccacio's sombre introduction to his gay 
stories— are memorable instances of this fidelity in the 
details of local and personal portraiture ; and that 
chaste yet deep tone of colouring which secures an 



252 THE PROSE POET : 

harmonious whole. Even in allegory, Hawthorne im- 
parts this sympathetic unity to his conception ; " Fire 
Worship," "The Celestial Railroad," " Monsieur du 
Miroir," "Earth's Holocaust," and others in the 
same vein, while they emphatically indicate great 
moral truth, have none of the abstract and cold 
grace of allegorical writing ; besides the ingenuity 
they exhibit, and the charm they have for the fancy, 
a human interest warms and gives them meaning to 
the heart. On the other hand, the imaginative grace 
which they chiefly display, lends itself quite as aptly 
to redeem and glorify homely fact in the plastic hands 
of the author. "Drowne's "Wooden Image," "The 
Intelligence Omce," and other tales derived from 
common-place material, are thus moulded into artistic 
beauty and suggestiveness. Hawthorne, therefore, is 
a prose-poet. He brings together scattered beauties* 
evokes truth from apparent confusion, and embodies 
the tragic or humorous element of a tradition or an 
event in lyric music — not, indeed, to be sung by the 
lips, but to live, like melodious echoes, in the memory. 
We are constantly struck with the felicity of his 
invention. What happy ideas are embodied in "A 
Virtuoso's Collection," and " The Artist of the Beauti- 
ful" — independent of the grace of their execution! 
There is a certain uniformity in Hawthorne's style 
and manner, but a remarkable versatility in his 
subjects ; and each as distinctly carries with it the 
monotone of a special feeling or fancy, as one of Miss 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 253 

Baillie's plays : — and this is the perfection of 
psychological art. 

There are two distinct kinds of fiction, or narrative 
literature, which for want of more apt terms, we may 
call the melo-dramatic and the meditative ; the former 
is in a great degree mechanical, and deals chiefly 
with incidents and adventure; a few types of cha- 
racter, an approved scenic material and what are 
called effective situations, make up the story ; the 
other species, on the contrary, is modelled upon no 
external pattern, but seems evolved from the author's 
mind, and tinged with his idiosyncracy ; the circum- 
stances related are often of secondary interest — 
while the sentiment they unfold, the picturesque or 
poetic light in which they are placed, throw an 
enchantment over them. "We feel the glow of indi- 
vidual consciousness even in the most technical 
description; we recognize a significance beyond the 
apparent, in each character; and the effect of the 
whole is that of life rather than history : we inhale 
an* atmosphere as well as gaze upon a landscape ; the 
picture offered to the mental vision has not outline 
and grouping, but colour and expression, evincing 
an intimate and sympathetic relation between the 
moral experience of the author and his work, so 
that, as we read, not only scenes but sensations, not 
only fancies but experience, seem borne in from the 
entrancing page. 

There is a charm also essential to all works of 



254 THE PROSE POET : 

genius which for want of a more definite term we 
are content to call the ineffable. It is a quality that 
seems to be infused through the design of the artist 
after its mechanical finish — as life entered the statue 
at the prayer of the Grecian sculptor. It is a secret, 
indescribable grace, a vital principle, a superhuman 
element imparting the distinctive and magnetic 
character to literature, art and society, which gives 
them individual life; it is what the soul is to the 
body, luminous vapour to the landscape, wind to 
sound, and light to colour. No analysis explains 
the phenomenon; it is recognized by consciousness 
rather than through direct intellectual perception; 
and seems to appeal to a union of sensibility and 
insight which belongs, in the highest degree, only 
to appreciative minds. Its mysterious, endearing and 
conservative influence, hallows all works universally 
acknowledged as those of genius in the absolute 
significance of the word; and it gives to inanimate 
forms, the written page, the composer's harmony, and 
the lyric or dramatic personation, a certain pervading 
interest which we instantly feel disarming criticism 
and attesting the presence of what is allied to our 
deepest instincts. It touches the heart with tender 
awe before a Madonna of Raphael; it thrilled the 
nerves and evoked the passions in the elocution of 
Kean; it lives in the expression of the Apollo, in 
the characters of Shakespeare, and the atmospheres 
of Claude; and those once thus initiated by expe- 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 255 

rience, know spontaneously the invisible line of 
demarkation which separates talent, skill and know- 
ledge from genius by the affinity of impression 
invariably produced: — a distinction as clearly felt 
and as difficult to portray as that between the 
emotions of friendship and love. It would appear 
as if there was a provision in the minds of the highly 
gifted similar to that of nature in her latent resources ; 
whereby they keep in reserve a world of passion, 
sentiment and ideas, unhackneyed by casual use and 
unprofaned by reckless display — which is secretly 
lavished upon their mental emanations : — hence their 
moral life, intense personality, and sympathetic charm. 
Such a process and result is obviously independent 
of will and intelligence; what they achieve is thus 
crowned with light and endowed with vitality by 
a grace above their sphere ; the ineffable, then, is a 
primary distinction and absolute token of genius ; 
like the halo that marks a saintly head. Results 
like these are only derived from the union of keen 
observation with moral sensibility ; they blend like 
form and colour, perspective and outline, tone and 
composition in art. They differ from merely clever 
stories in what may be called flavour. There is a 
peculiar zest about them which proves a vital origin ; 
and this is the distinction of Hawthorne's tales. 
They almost invariably possess the reality of tone 
which perpetuates imaginative literature ; — the same 
that endears to all time De Foe, Bunyan, Goldsmith, 



256 THE PROSE POET : 

and the old dramatists. "We find in pictorial art 
that the conservative principle is either absolute 
fidelity to detail as in the Flemish, or earnest moral 
beauty as in the Italian school; the painters who 
yet live in human estimation were thoroughly loyal 
either to the real or the ideal — to perception or to 
feeling, to the eye or the heart. And, in literature, 
the same thing is evident. "Robinson Crusoe" is 
objectively, and " Pilgrim's Progress" spiritually, true 
to nature ; the " Vicar of Wakefield " emanated from 
a mind overflowing with humanity; and it is the 
genuine reproduction of passion in the Old English 
plays that makes them still awaken echoes in the 
soul. 

It may be regarded as a proof of absolute genius 
to create a mood ; to inform, amuse, or even interest 
is only the test of superficial powers sagaciously 
directed; but to infuse a new state of feeling, to 
change the frame of mind, and, as it were, alter the 
consciousness — this is the triumph of all art. It is 
that mysterious influence which beauty, wit, character, 
nature and peculiar scenes and objects exert, which 
we call fascination, a charm, an inspiration or a 
glamour, according as it is good or evil. It may 
safely be asserted that by virtue of his individuality 
every author and artist of genius creates a peculiar 
mood, differing somewhat according to the character 
of the recipient, yet essentially the same. If we 
were obliged to designate that of Hawthorne in a 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 257 

single word, we should call it metaphysical, or perhaps 
soulful. He always takes us below the surface and 
beyond the material ; his most inartificial stories are 
eminently suggestive; he makes us breathe the air 
of contemplation, and turns our eyes inward. It is 
as if we went forth, in a dream, into the stillness of 
an autumnal wood, or stood alone in a vast gallery 
of old pictures, or moved slowly, with muffled tread, 
over a wide plain, amid a gentle fall of snow, or 
mused on a ship's deck, at sea, by moonlight ; the 
appeal is to the retrospective, the introspective to 
what is thoughtful and profoundly conscious in our 
nature, and whereby it communes with the mysteries 
of life and occult intimations of nature. And yet 
there is no painful extravagance, no transcendental 
vagaries in Hawthorne ; his imagination is as human 
as his heart ; if he touches the horizon of the infinite, 
it is with reverence : if he deals with the anomalies of 
sentiment, it is with intelligence and tenderness. His 
utterance too is singularly clear and simple ; his style 
only rises above the colloquial in the sustained order 
of its flow; the terms are apt, natural, and fitly chosen. 
Indeed a careless reader is liable continually to lose 
sight of his meaning and beauty, from the entire 
absence of pretension in his style. It is requisite to 
bear in mind the universal truth, that all great and 
true things are remarkable for simplicity ; the direct 
method is the pledge of sincerity, avoidance of the 
conventional, an instinct of richly-endowed minds ; 

s 



258 THE PROSE POET : 

and the perfection of art never dazzles or overpowers, 
but gradually wins and warms us to an enduring and 
noble love. The style of Hawthorne is wholly ineva- 
sive; he resorts to no tricks of rhetoric or verbal 
ingenuity ; language is to him a crystal medium 
through which to let us seethe play of his humour, the 
glow of his sympathy, and the truth of his observation. 
Although he seldom transcends the limited sphere 
in which he so efficiently concentrates his genius, the 
variety of tone, like different airs on the same instru- 
ment, gives him an imaginative scope rarely obtained 
in elaborate narrative. Thus he deals with the tragic 
element, wisely and with vivid originality, in such 
pieces as " Roger Malvern's Burial" and "Young 
Groodman Browne ;" with the comic in " Mr. Higgin- 
botham's Catastrophe," "A Select Party," and Dr. 
Heidegger's Experiment," and with the purely fanciful 
in " David Swan," " The Vision of the Fountain," 
and " Fancy's Show Box." Nor is he less remark- 
able for sympathetic observation of nature than for 
profound interest in humanity ; witness such limning 
as the sketches entitled " Buds and Bird Voices," and 
" Snow-Makes" — genuine descriptive poems, though 
not cast in the mould of verse, as graphic, true and 
feeling as the happiest scenes of Bryant or Crabbe. 
With equal tact and tenderness he approaches the dry 
record of the past, imparting life to its cold details, 
and reality to its abstract forms. The early history 
of New England has found no such genial and vivid 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 259 

illustrations as his pages afford. Thus, at all points, 
his genius touches the interests of human life, now 
overflowing with a love of external nature, as gentle as 
that of Thomson, now intent upon the quaint or cha- 
racteristic in life with a humour as zestful as that of 
Lamb, now developing the horrible or pathetic with 
something of "Webster's dramatic terror, and again 
buoyant with a fantasy as aerial as Shelley's concep- 
tions. And, in each instance, the staple of charming 
invention is adorned with the purest graces of style. 
This is Hawthorne's distinction. We have writers 
who possess in an eminent degree each of these two 
great requisites of literary success, but no one who 
more impressively unites them ; cheerfulness, as if 
caught from the sea-breeze or the green fields, solem- 
nity, as if imbibed from the twilight, like colours on a 
palette, seem transferable at his will, to any legend or 
locality he chooses for a framework whereon to rear 
his artistic creation ; and this he does with so dainty 
a touch and so fine a disposition of light and shade. 
that the result is like an immortal cabinet picture 
— the epitome of a phase of art, and the miniature 
reflection of a glorious mind. Boccaccio in Italy, 
Marmontel in France, Hoffman and others in Germany, 
and Andersen in Denmark, have made the tale or brief 
story classical in their several countries ; and Haw- 
thorne has achieved the same triumph here. He has 
performed for New England life and manners, the 
same high and sweet service which Wilson has for 



260 THE PROSE POET : 

Scotland — caught and permanently embodied their 
"lights and shadows." 

Brevity is as truly the soul of romance as of wit ; 
the light that warms is always concentrated ; and 
expression and finish, in literature as in painting, are 
not dependent upon space. Accordingly the choicest 
gems of writing are often the most terse ; and as 
a perfect lyric or sonnet outweighs in value a mediocre 
epic or tragedy, so a carefully worked and a richly 
conceived sketch, tale, or essay is worth scores of 
diffuse novels and ponderous treatises. It is a 
characteristic of standard literature, both ancient and 
modern, thus to condense the elements of thought and 
style. Like the compact and well-knit frame, vivacity, 
efficiency, and grace result from thus bringing the 
rays of fancy and reflection to a focus. It gives us 
the essence, the flower, the vital spirit of mental 
enterprise ; it is a wise economy of resources, and 
often secures permanent renown by distinctness of 
impression unattained in efforts of great range. We, 
therefore, deem one of Hawthorne's great merits a 
sententious habit, a concentrated style. He makes 
each picture complete and does not waste an inch of 
canvas. Indeed the unambitious length of his tales 
is apt to blind careless readers to their artistic unity 
and suggestiveness ; he abjures quantity, while he 
refines upon quality. 

A rare and most attractive quality of Hawthorne, 
as we. have already suggested, is the artistic use of 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 261 

familiar materials. The imagination is a wayward 
faculty, and writers largely endowed with it, have 
acknowledged that they could expatiate with con- 
fidence only upon themes hallowed by distance. It 
seems to us less marvellous that Shakspeare peopled 
a newly-discovered and half-traditional island with 
such new types of character as Ariel and Caliban ; we 
can easily reconcile ourselves to the enchanting im- 
possibilities of Arabian fiction ; and the superstitious 
fantasies of northern romance have a dream-like 
reality to the natives of the temperate zone. To 
clothe a familiar scene with ideal interest, and exalt 
things to which our senses are daily accustomed, into 
the region of imaginative beauty and genuine senti- 
ment, requires an extraordinary power of abstraction 
and concentrative thought. Authors in the old world 
have the benefit of antiquated memorials which give 
to the modern cities a mysterious though often dis- 
regarded charm ; and the very names of Notre Dame, 
the Eialto, London Bridge, and other time-hallowed 
localities, take the reader's fancy captive, and prepares 
him to accede to any grotesque or thrilling narrative 
that may be associated with them. It is otherwise in 
a new and entirely practical country ; the immediate 
encroaches too steadily on our attention; we can 
scarcely obtain a perspective : — 

' ' Life treads on life and heart on heart — 
We press too close in church and mart, 
To keep a dream or grave apart." 



262 THE PROSE POET : 

Yet with a calm gaze, a serenity and fixedness of 
mnsing that no ontward bustle can disturb and no 
power of custom render hackneyed, Hawthorne takes 
his stand — like a foreign artist in one of the old Italian 
cities, — before a relic of the past or a picturesque 
glimpse of nature, and loses all consciousness of him- 
self and the present, in transferring its features and 
atmosphere to canvas. In our view the most 
remarkable trait in his writings is this harmonious 
blending of the common and familiar in the outward 
world, with the mellow and vivid tints of his own 
imagination. It is with difficulty that his maturity of 
conception and his finish and geniality of style links 
itself, in our minds, with the streets of Boston and 
Salem, the Province House, and even the White 
Mountains ; and we congratulate every New 
Englander with a particle of romance, that, in his 
native literature, " a local habitation and a name" 
has thus been given to historical incidents and 
localities ; — that art has enshrined what of tradition 
hangs over her brief career — as characteristic and as 
desirable thus to consecrate, as any legend or spot, 
German or Scottish genius has redeemed from 
oblivion. The "Wedding Knell," the "Gentle 
Boy," the "White Old Maid," the "Ambitious 
Guest," the "Shaker Bridal," and other New 
England subjects, as embodied and glorified by the 
truthful, yet imaginative and graceful, heart of 
Hawthorne, adequately represent, in literature, native 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 263 

traits, and this will ensure their ultimate appreciation. 
But the most elaborate effort of this kind, and the 
only one, in fact, which seems to have introduced 
Hawthorne to the whole range of American readers, 
is "The Scarlet Letter." With all the care in point 
of style and authenticity which mark his lighter 
sketches, this genuine and unique romance, may be 
considered as an artistic exposition of Puritanism as 
modified by New England colonial life. In truth 
to costume, local manners, and scenic features, the 
Scarlet Letter is as reliable as the best of Scott's 
novels ; in the anatomy of human passion and con- 
sciousness it resembles the most effective of Balzac's 
illustrations of Parisian or provincial life, while in 
developing bravely and justly the sentiment of the 
life it depicts, it is as true to humanity as Dickens. 
Beneath its picturesque details and intense character- 
ization, there lurks a profound satire. The want of 
soul, the absence of sweet humanity, the predominance 
of judgment over mercy, the tyranny of public 
opinion, the look of genuine charity, the asceticism of 
the Puritan theology, — the absence of all recognition 
of natural laws, and the fanatic substitution of the 
letter for the spirit — which darken and harden the 
spirit of the pilgrims to the soul of a poet — are 
shadowed forth with a keen, stern and eloquent, yet 
indirect emphasis that haunts us like " the cry of the 
human." Herein is evident and palpable the latent 
power which we have described as the most remarkable 



264 



THE PROSE POET : 



trait of Hawthorne's genius ; — the impression grows 
more significant as we dwell upon the story; the 
states of mind of the poor clergymen, Hester 
Chillingworth, and Penil, being as it were transferred 
to our bosoms through the intense sympathies their 
vivid delineation excites ; — they seem to conflict, and 
glow and deepen and blend in our hearts, and finally 
work out a great moral problem. It is as if we were 
baptized into the consciousness of Puritan life, of New 
England character in its elemental state ; and knew, 
by experience, all its frigidity, its gloom, its intel- 
lectual enthusiasm, and its religious aspiration. 
" The House of the Seven G-ables" is a more 
elaborate and harmonious realization of these 
characteristics. The scenery, tone, and personages of 
the story are imbued with a local authenticity which 
is not, for an instant, impaired by the imaginative 
charm of romance. We seem to breathe, as we read, 
the air and be surrounded by the familiar objects of a 
New England town. The interior of the House, each 
article described within it, from the quaint table to the 
miniature by Malbone ; every product of the old 
garden, the street-scenes that beguile the eyes of 
poor Clifford, as he looks out of the arched window, 
the noble elm and the ginger-bread figures at the 
little shop-window — all have the significance that 
belong to reality when seized upon by art. In these 
details we have the truth, simplicity, and exact 
imitation of the Flemish painters. So life-like in the 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 265 

minutiae and so picturesque in general effect are these 
sketches of still-life, that they are daguerreotype d in 
the reader's mind, and form a distinct and changeless 
background, the light and shade of which give 
admirable effect to the action of the story ; occasional 
touches of humour, introduced with exquisite tact, 
relieve the grave undertone of the narrative, and form 
vivacious and quaint images which might readily be 
transferred to canvas — so effectively are they drawn 
in words ; take, for instance, the street -musician and 
the Pyncheon fowls, the Judge balked of his kiss over 
the counter, Phoebe reading to Clifford in the garden, 
or the old maid in her lonely chamber, gazing on the 
sweet lineaments of her unfortunate brother. Xor is 
Hawthorne less successful in those pictures that are 
drawn exclusively for the mind's eye, and are obvious 
to sensation rather than the actual vision. AVere a 
New England Sunday, breakfast, old mansion, easterly 
storm, or the morning after it clears, ever so well 
described ? The skill in atmosphere we have noted in 
his lighter sketches, is also as apparent : around and 
within the principal scene of this romance, there 
hovers an alternating melancholy and brightness 
which is born of genuine moral life ; no contrasts can 
be imagined of this kind, more eloquent to a sym- 
pathetic mind than that between the inward conscious- 
ness and external appearance of Hepzibah or Phcebe 
and Clifford, or the Judge. They respectively 
symbolize the poles of human existence ; and are fine 



266 THE PROSE POET : 

studies for the psychologist. Yet this attraction is 
subservient to fidelity to local characteristics. 
Clifford represents, though in its most tragic 
imaginable phase, the man of fine organization and 
true sentiments environed by the material realities of 
New England life ; his plausible uncle is the type of 
New England selfishness, glorified by respectable 
conformity and wealth; Phoebe is the ideal of 
genuine, efficient, yet loving female character in the 
same latitude ; Uncle Yenner we regard as one of the 
most fresh, yet familiar portraits in the book: all 
denizens of our eastern provincial towns must have 
known such a philosopher ; and Holdgrave embodies 
Yankee acuteness and hardihood redeemed by in- 
tegrity and enthusiasm. The contact of these 
most judiciously selected and highly characteristic 
elements brings out not only many beautiful revela- 
tions of nature, but elucidates interesting truth ; 
magnetism and socialism are admirably introduced; 
family tyranny in its most revolting form is power- 
fully exemplified ; the distinction between a mental 
and a heartfelt interest in another, clearly unfolded ; 
and the tenacious and hereditary nature of moral evil 
impressively shadowed forth. The natural refinements 
of the human heart, the holiness of a ministry of 
disinterested affection, the gracefulness of the 
homeliest services when irradiated by cheerfulness and 
benevolence, are illustrated with singular beauty. 
" He," says our author, speaking of Clifford, " had no 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 267 

right to be a martyr ; and, beholding him so fit to be 
happy, and so feeble for all other purposes, a generous, 
strong and noble spirit, would, methinks, have been 
ready to sacrifice what little enjoyment it might 
have planned for itself, — it would have flung down 
the hopes so paltry in its regard — if thereby the wintry 
blasts of our rude sphere might come tempered to 
such a man ;" and elsewhere : " Phoebe's presence 
made a home about her, — that very sphere 
which the outcast, the prisoner, the potentate, the 
wretch beneath mankind, the wretch aside from 
it, or the wretch above it, instinctively pines after 
— a home. She was real ! Holding her hand, 
you felt something; a tender something; a sub- 
stance and a warm one ; and so long as you cvuld feel 
its grasp, soft as it was, you might be certain that your 
place was good in the whole sympathetic chain of human 
nature. The world was no longer a delusion." 

Thus narrowly, yet with reverence, does Hawthorne 
analyze the delicate traits of human sentiment and 
character; and open vistas into that beautiful and 
unexplored world of love and thought, that exists in 
every human being, though overshadowed by material 
circumstance and technical duty. This, as we have 
before said, is his great service; digressing every 
now and then, from the main drift of his story, he 
takes evident delight in expatiating on phases of 
character and general traits of life, or in bringing 
into strong relief the more latent facts of con- 



268 THE PROSE POET : 

sciousness. Perhaps the union of the philosophic 
tendency with the poetic instinct is the great charm 
of his genius. It is common for American critics 
to estimate the interest of all writings by their com- 
parative glow, vivacity and rapidity of action : 
somewhat of the restless temperament and en- 
terprising life of the nation infects its taste : such 
terms as ''quiet,' ' gentle,' and * tasteful,' are equivocal 
when applied in this country, to a book ; and yet 
they may envelope the rarest energy of thought and 
depth of insight as well as earnestness of feeling : 
these qualities, in reflective minds, are too real to 
find melo- dramatic development ; they move as 
calmly as summer waves, or glow as noiselessly as 
the firmament ; but not the less grand and mighty 
is their essence ; to realize it, the spirit of con- 
templation, and the recipient mood of sympathy, 
must be evoked, for it is not external but moral 
excitement that is proposed ; and we deem one of 
Hawthorne's most felicitous merits — that of so 
patiently educing artistic beauty and moral interest 
from life and nature, without the least sacrifice of 
intellectual dignity. 

The healthy spring of life is typified in Phoebe so 
freshly as to magnetize the feelings as well as engage 
the perceptions of the reader ; its intellectual phase 
finds expression in Holgrave, while the state of 
Clifford, when relieved of the nightmare that 
oppressed his sensitive temperament, the author 



NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 269 

justly compares to an Indian summer of the soul. 
Across the path of these beings of genuine flesh and 
blood, who constantly appeal to our most humane 
sympathies, or rather around their consciousness and 
history, flits the pale mystic figure of Alice — whose 
invisible music and legendary fate overflow with a 
graceful and attractive superstition — yielding an 
Ariel-like melody to the more solemn and cheery 
strains of the whole composition. Among the apt 
though incidental touches of the picture, the idea of 
making the music-grinder's monkey an epitome of 
avarice, the daguerreotype a test of latent character, 
and the love of the reformer Holgrave for the genially 
practical Phoebe, win him to conservatism, strike us 
as remarkably natural, yet quite as ingenious and 
charming as philosophical. "We may add that the 
same pure, even, unexaggerated and perspicuous style 
of diction that we have recognized in his previous 
writing, is maintained in this. 

As earth and sky appear to blend at the horizon 
though we cannot define the point of contact, things 
seen and unseen, the actual and the spiritual, mind 
and matter, what is within and what is without our 
consciousness, have a line of union, and, like the 
colour of the iris, are lost in each other. About this 
equator of life the genius of Hawthorne delights to 
hover as its appropriate sphere ; whether indulging a 
vein of Spenserian allegory, Hogarth sketching, 
Goldsmith domesticity, or Godwin metaphysics, it is 



270 NATHANIEL HAWTHORXE. 

around the boundary of the possible that he most 
freely expatiates ; the realities and the mysteries of 
life to his vision are scarcely ever apart ; they act and 
react as to yield dramatic hints or vistas of sentiment. 
Time broods with touching solemnity over his 
imagination ; the function of conscience awes while 
it occupies his mind; the delicate and the profound 
in love, and the awful beauty of death transfuse his 
meditation ; and these supernal he loves to link with 
terrestial influences — to hallow a graphic description 
by a sacred association, or to brighten a commonplace 
occasion with the scintillations of humour — thus 
vivifying or chastening the " light of common day." 



THE SUPEENATUEALIST 
CHAELES BEOCKDEN BEOTVX. 



The memoirs of distinguished men suggest to the 
philosopher the idea of a natural history of the human 
mind — so like the laws of instinct is the process of de- 
velopment in each species of character. The influence 
of climate, education, political and social institutions 
do not apparently modify the essential identity of 
genius ; there is always a certain similarity in its ex- 
perience, and a moral verisimilitude in its life ; and 
the imprisoned poet of Ferrara, the domesticated bard 
of Olney, and the solitary cultivator of imaginative 
literature in our infant republic — as they are revealed 
to us in their familiar letters, and the anecdotes pre- 
served of their habits and feelings — are distinguished 
by the same general characteristics. Thus with each, 
life began in vague but ardent dreams, intensity of 
personal consciousness, and indications of ability which 
induced those in authority to assign them the law as a 
career ; in each case, their gentle and earnest spirits 



272 THE SUPERXATURALIST : 

revolted from its technical drudgery and tergiversation ; 
they alike were beset by Giant Despair in the form of 
bitter self- distrust and profound melancholy ; and 
equally owed their temporary emancipation to mental 
activity and the indulgence of the affections ; love and 
fame contended for the empire of their hearts, and 
finally achieved a kind of mutual victory and established 
a holy truce. The difference in renown is indeed 
great, but aspiration, insight, and the love of beauty 
dwelt in each of their souls, and found unequal but 
powerful expression. The contest with fortune, the 
unswerving assertion of individuality of purpose— the 
life of the mind and the loyalty of the heart, distinguish 
these widely-severed beings as they do the nobility of 
nature in all times and places. In our view it is an 
affecting reminiscence to look back half a century upon 
the enthusiastic American letterato, delving at his self- 
imposed tasks alone — in the midst of a community 
absorbed in the pursuit of material well-being ; 
throwing off his books with scarcely a breath of popu- 
larity to cheer his labour, and finding in the vocation 
for which* his mind was adapted, a satisfaction that 
required not the spur of laudation to prompt habits of 
industry. We perceive in his writings germs, which 
under more cherishing influences would have expanded 
into glorious fruits — scintillations of an eclipsed dawn, 
breathings of a premature spring — the pledge and the 
promise, as well as the partial realization of original 
intellectual achievement. 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWX, 273 

Charles Brockden Brown was the first American 
who manifested a decided literary genius in a form 
which has survived with anything like vital interest. 
His native fondness and capacity for literature is not 
only shown by his voluntary adoption of its pursuit at 
a time and in a country offering no inducement to 
such a career, but they are still more evident from the 
unpropitious social circumstances and local influences 
amid which he was born and bred. He was the son 
of a member of the Society of Friends in Philadelphia 
— a class distinguished, indeed, for moral worth, but 
equally remarkable for the absence of a sense of thr 
beautiful, and a firm repudiation of the artistic graces 
of life and the inspiration of sentiment, except that of 
a strictly religious kind. It is obvious, therefore, that 
Brown could have found little that was favourable to 
literary aspirations in his early years. Calm, pre- 
scriptive, and monotonous was the environment of his 
infancy, except that it richly yielded the gentle and 
sweet ministries of domestic ties and youthful com- 
panionship ; sustained by these, he seems to have 
fallen back upon his indivi duality with that singleness 
of purpose characteristic of genius. He was a devoted 
student ; and mental application soon made inroads 
upon his delicate constitution. By the counsel of his 
teacher, he acquired the habit of making long pedes- 
trian excursions ; and, in alternating between books 
and walks, his youth was passed : his ramblings, how- 
ever, were usually without a companion ; and thus 

T 



274 THE SUPERNATURALIST : 

Brown, in the solitude of nature, was led to commune 
deeply with his own heart, indulge in fanciful reveries, 
and accustom himself to watch the action of the out- 
ward world upon his consciousness. He also became, 
from the same causes, abstracted in his habits of mind ; 
and when the exigencies of practical life roused him 
from tasteful studies and romantic dreams to grapple 
with the perplexities and arid details of the law, he re- 
coiled from the profession with the ardent feelings of 
a youth accustomed only to the agreeable fields of 
literature. He, however, persevered, and found con- 
solation in the rhetorical exercises of a debating club, 
and those branches of the study, commenced at six- 
teen, that gave scope to his ingenuity and philosophical 
taste. To the disappointment of Ins friends, however, 
when admitted to the bar, he abandoned the idea of 
practice in disgust. Conscious perhaps of inconsistency 
and waywardness, yet tenacious of his obligation to 
follow the instinctive direction of his mind — the inac- 
tivity and hopeless prospect incident to such an entire 
change in his plan of life, occasioned, for awhile, the 
most painful depression of spirits. Both his talents 
and sensibilities demanded a sphere, and their unem- 
ployed energy preyed upon his health and conscience. 
He sought relief in change of scene, and visited many 
parts of his own and the neighbouring states. Under 
a calm exterior and an apparent indifference of mood, 
he at this time suffered the most acute and despairing 
chagrin. His kindred and intimate companions dis- 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 27^ 

approved of his course and yainly remonstrated with 
him ; and thus he not only failed to please those he 
loved, but was thoroughly dissatisfied with himself. 
In 1793 he visited New York, in order to unite with 
two fellow- students between whom and himself there 
existed a strong attachment. "With them he formed a 
pleasant home ; and soon joined the Friendly Club, of 
which Dunlap, Dr. Mitchell, Bleecker, Kent, and 
other choice spirits of the metropolis were active 
members. In their society his literary tastes revived. 
and his mental energies expanded. Sympathy quick- 
ened his confidence in his own resources, and lie re- 
gained his cheerfulness and activity of spirit. 

" Wieland" was published in 1798. It was the first 
work in the department of imaginative literature of 
native origin, possessing indisputable tokens of genius, 
which appeared in the United States. Its author died 
on the twenty-second of February, 1810, having just 
completed his thirty-ninth year. His subsequent 
fictions were unequal both to each other and to the 
first ; but all contain traits of reflective power and 
invention that enlist the sympathies of the intellectual 
reader. They constitute, however, but a modicum of 
Brown's literary labour. When he commenced au- 
thorship the discussions incident to the French Be vo- 
lution were rife ; and his active mind soon became 
excited on the subject of politics and social philosophy. 
His first published work — if we except occasional 
contributions to periodicals — was a Dialogue on the 



276 THE SUPERXATURALIST : 

Eights of Woman, said to have been unsuccessful 
though ingenious ; then followed the Memoirs of 
Carwin — the basis of his fictitious compositions and 
fame in this branch ; but in the meantime, throughout 
his brief career, he was incessantly engaged in some 
kind of literary toil — editing the old American Monthly, 
the first American Review, the original Literary Maga- 
zine, and the American Register — compiling an elabo- 
rate geography, preparing architectural drawings, 
investigating various subjects, corresponding, trans- 
lating Volney's work on the United States, and 
writing a series of political pamphlets. Although 
many of the questions thus treated have lost their 
significance and interest, the knowledge, logic, good 
sense, and general ability manifest in the political 
writings of Brown, are thought by some, not incom- 
petent judges, to be as remarkable, in view of the 
period and circumstances, as his novels. It is certain 
that the two exhibit a rare combination of practical 
and imaginative capacity ; and evince a mind disci- 
plined and prolific as well as versatile : he could reason 
comprehensively and acutely on affairs as well as on 
emotion ; and discuss the interests of commerce and 
government with as clear and full intelligence as the 
mysteries of love, remorse, and superstition. But 
it requires the consummate literary art of a Burke and 
a Grodwin to preserve the carelessly- strewn jewels of 
such a mind in enduring caskets. 

So deficient, indeed, in constructive design and 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWX. 277 

unity of purpose are the writings of Brown, that, with 
the exception of his essays and other argumentative 
papers, they resemble the sketches that litter an 
artist's studio more than elaborate and finished works. 
His fictions might aptly be designated as studies in 
Romance. He left many fragmentary narratives, 
scenes and dialogues — some founded upon history, 
some upon observation, and others apparently the 
result of an inventive mood. At one time he had no 
less than five novels commenced, sketched out, or 
partially written. Architecture, geography, politics, 
and belles lettres, by turns, occupied his attention, and 
may be regarded as his permanent tastes. There is 
often in his letters a curious detail ; and he possessed 
the art of making the recital of trifles interesting ; 
while the logician and grave practical thinker, as well 
as the sincere and ardent patriot, are revealed by his 
spirited treatment of public questions. " Wieland' ' was 
the most powerful story that had appeared in the 
country; and the American Eegister, projected and 
commenced by Brown, was the most useful and appro- 
priate literary undertaking in its day. Like most 
gifted men he won and retained affections with ease ; 
he was the idol of the domestic circle, and loyal as well 
as magnanimous in friendship ; he stood manfully by 
his comrades during the fearful ravages of the yellow 
fever ; and his letters, while they aim to elicit the in- 
most experience and outward fortunes of those he 
loves, are remarkably self-forgetful. He lived wholly 



278 THE SUPERXATURALIST : 

in his mind and affections ; from a child devoted to 
books and maps, and, as a man, congratulating himself 
upon that fragility of body that destined him to medi- 
tative pursuits. Beading, clubs, pedestrianism, jour- 
nalizing and earnest reflection were the means of his 
culture and development ; like the author of the 
" Seasons," he was silent in mixed companies, but alert 
and expressive under genial mental excitement. An 
Utopian, he indulged in the most sanguine visions of 
the amelioration of society ; a deep reasoner, he argued 
a question of law or government with subtlety and 
force ; a devotee of truth, he ardently sought and 
carefully recorded facts — a wild dreamer, he gave the 
utmost scope to his fancy and the most intense exercise 
to his imagination ; careless as to his appearance, un- 
methodical in affairs, intent upon the contemplative 
rather than the observant use of his faculties, he yet 
could summon all his powers at the call of love, duty, 
or taste, and bring them into efficient action. He de- 
scribes his sensations at the first sight of the sea with 
the enthusiasm of Alfieri, and sums up an imaginary 
case, as president of a law society, with the grave 
reasoning of a Blackstone. The remarkable feature 
in his intellectual character was this union of analytical 
with imaginative power. So contented was he when 
his literary and domestic aptitudes were entirely 
gratified, as was the case during the last few years of 
his life, that he writes one of his friends that the only 
thing which mars his felicity is the idea of its possible 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 279 

interruption. He fell into a gradual decline ; and his 
wife declares that " he surrendered up not one faculty 
of his soul but with his last breath." 

A prolific English novelist expressed his surprise 
at the discovery of what he called a tendency to super- 
naturalism in our people, having always regarded 
the American character as exclusively practical 
and matter-of-fact. It seems, however, that both 
individuals and communities are apt to develop in 
extremes ; and that there is some occult affinity be- 
tween the achieving faculty and the sense of wonder. 
Shakspeare has inwrought his grand superstitious 
creation amid vital energies of purpose and action ; 
and thus brought into striking contrast the practical 
efficiency and spiritual dependence of our nature. 
The coincidence is equally remarkable whether it be 
considered as artistic ingenuity, or natural fact ; and 
probably, as in other instances, the great dramatist 
was true to both motives. The more strictly utili- 
tarian the life, the more keen, it would appear, is a 
zest for the marvellous — from that principle of re- 
action which causes a neglected element of the soul 
to assert itself with peculiar emphasis. No class of 
people are kept in more stern and continuous alli- 
ance with reality than sailors and the poor Irish ; 
and yet among them fanciful superstition is prover- 
bially rife. There is, therefore, no absolute incon- 
gruity between the most literal sagacity in affairs and 



280 THE SUPERNATURALIST : 

outward experience, and a thorough recognition of 
the mysterious. 

The theological acumen and hardy intelligence of 
the New England colonists did not suffice against 
witchcraft and its horrible results ; seers nourished 
among the shrewd Scotch, and gipsy fortune-telling 
in the rural districts of England. The faculty or 
sentiment to which these and other delusions appeal 
in our more cultivated era, finds scope and gratification 
in the revelations of science : and so nearly connected 
are the natural and supernatural, the seen and the 
unseen, the mysterious and the familiar, that a truly 
reverent and enlightened mind is often compelled to 
acknowledge that a sceptical and obstinate rational- 
ism are as much opposed to truth as a visionary and 
credulous spirit. There is an intuitive as well as a 
reasoning faith; and presentiments, dreams, vivid 
reminiscence, and sympathetic phenomena, of which 
introspective natures are conscious, indicate to the 
calmest reflections that we are linked to the domain 
of moral experience and of destiny by more than tan- 
gible relations. Hence the receptive attitude of the 
highest order of minds in regard to spiritual theories, 
the consolation found in the doctrines of Sweden- 
borg, and the obvious tendency that now prevails 
to interpret art, literature, and events according to an 
ideal or philosophical view. 

It is a curious fact, in the history of American 



CHARLES BROCKDEX BROWN. 281 

letters, that the genius of our literary pioneer was of 
this introspective order. If we examine the writings 
of Brown, it is evident that they only rise to high 
individuality in the analysis of emotion, and the 
description of states of mind. In other respects, 
though industrious, wise, and able, he is not impres- 
sively original-; but in following out a metaphysical 
vein, in making the reader absolutely cognizant of 
the reverie, fears, hopes — imaginings that " puzzle 
the will," or concentrate its energies — Brown obeyed 
a singular idiosyncrasy of his nature, a Shaksperian 
tendency, and one, at that period, almost new as a 
chief element of fiction. The powerful use made of 
its entrancing spell by Godwin was the foundation 
of his fame; and it has been stated upon good 
authority, that Brown's mind was put upon the track 
by " Caleb "Williams," and also that Godwin has been 
heard to allude to Brown as a suggestive writer 
in the same vein. The consciousness of the former 
was the great source of his intensity. He was one 
of those sensitive and thoughtful men who found 
infinite pleasure in the study of his own nature ; and 
traced the course of a passion or the formation of a 
theory with a zest and acuteness similar to that with 
which a geologist investigates fossils and strata — 
delighting in that which suggests limitless relations, 
and touches the most expansive circle of human 
speculation. Mrs. Eadcliffe understood how to excite 
the superstitious instinct, but it was by melo-dramatic 



282 THE SUPERXATURALIST : 

and scenical rather than psychological means. In 
the process of Brown there is a more rational 
mystery; he bases his marvellous incidents upon 
some principle of truth or fact in science, and keeps 
interest alive by the effect on the sympathies or 
curiosity of his personages. He identifies himself 
with the working of their minds, and by casting his 
best descriptions in an autobiographical form, makes 
them more real through the personality of the 
narrative. He has been called an anatomist of the 
mind ; and the peculiar nature of his genius may be 
inferred from the kind of influences under which he 
loved to depict human nature — such as the phenomena 
of Pestilence, in " Ormond " and "Arthur Mervyn," 
somnambulism, in "Edgar Huntley," and Ventrilo- 
quism, in " "Wieland." 

This love of the marvellous, as it is called, in its 
ordinary aspects, and recognition of the spiritual, as 
its higher phase may be defined, is common to the 
least cultivated and the most gifted of human beings. 
"Whoever has considered the speculations of Shelley 
on dreams, the theories of Coleridge in regard to the 
action and reaction of life and the soul, or heard 
Allston tell a ghost story, must have been convinced 
that there is a natural provision for wonder as well 
as for reason in select intelligences. The art of deal- 
ing with this feeling, however, is one of the most 
subtle of inventions — that fatal step from the sublime 
to the ridiculous being constantly imminent. One 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 283 

reason that Brown succeeded was that a self- 
possessed intelligence, a reflective process goes on 
simultaneously before the reader's mind, with the 
scene of mystery or horror enacting ; he cannot 
despise as weak the spectator or the victim that can 
so admirably portray his state of feeling and the 
current of his thoughts at such a crisis of fate ; 
witness the description of the scene with a panther, 
and the defence of Wieland. 

There is an association of the marvellous recorded 
by Dunlap, the friend and biographer of Brown, 
which links itself readily to this vein of the weird and 
adventurous he delighted to unfold. It appears his 
name of Brockden was derived from an English pro- 
genitor who nearly lost his life in consequence of 
overhearing a conspiracy, when a boy, against Charles 
the Second, and was sent to America to avoid the 
consequences ; and there is manifest in the only lineal 
descendant of the novelist, the same passion for experi- 
ment in actual life which inspired the latter in the 
world of opinion and fancy. The vigour, directness, and 
energy of Brown's mind increased with discipline ; for 
although his last novel is inferior to its predecessors, 
his last pamphlet is marked by great cogency and 
eloquence. His stock of knowledge, his range of 
observation, and his benign projects expanded with 
his years ; and no judicious and kindly reader can 
examine his literary remains, and ponder the facts of 
his brief career, without sharing the grief of those 



284 THE SUPERXATURALIST : 

who lamented his early death as a public not less than 
a personal misfortune. 

Crudity seems the necessary condition of a nascent 
literature ; and a large amount of excellent material 
exists, in a printed form, which is destined to be re- 
cast in a vital and artistic shape by the American 
author. Style is the conservative element of ideas 
and traditions ; and the hasty manner in which many 
of our writers have produced even their best works ; 
the want of patient limning and research, and the 
absence of a high and nice standard of taste as well as 
of inspiring literary sympathy, accounts for the incom- 
plete, unlaboured, and fugitive shape in which the 
national mind has chiefly developed. The exceptions 
to this general rule do not invalidate its prevalence ; 
and the high finish which Irving, Longfellow, Haw- 
thorne, and other American writers have bestowed on 
their productions, is in striking contrast with the 
unequal, careless, and fragmentary character of the 
average issues of the press. In the case of Brown we 
have to regret the absence of careful revision and 
sustained labour. He opened a mine from which 
others have wrought images of more enduring beauty. 
Not anticipating any great result, conscious of toiling 
in an isolated field, and deprived of the encourage- 
ment to assiduous and refined toil which only warm 
and intelligent recognition affords, we cannot be 
surprised that he was satisfied to give utterance to his 
inventive talent, and indulge his personal taste, with- 



CHARLES BROCKDEX BROWX. 285 

out striving to perpetuate their emanations. He 
wrote with great rapidity ; his delicate organization 
forbade the prolonged endurance of mental glow ; 
and, therefore, in almost every instance, his pages 
give indications of weariness towards the close. Many 
of his works were written and printed simultaneously ; 
he did not apparently realize that the vein of fiction 
in which he excelled could be worked up into a 
standard value or interest, but gave it vent without 
pausing to correct verbal inaccuracies or condense and 
polish the style. He was as capable of giving to his 
theme, the unity and finish of " The Sketch Book," 
the "Idle Man," or the " Scarlet Letter," as their 
authors ; but he lived and wrote at a time and under 
influences in which such genial care received little 
praise ; and we must look to the elements and not the 
form of his genius in order to do justice to his memorv. 
The same kind of moral diagnosis, if we may use the 
phrase, which gives to Balzac's creations their singular 
hold upon the imagination, under the impulse of 
literary art, would have enshrined the name of the 
American novelist ; he possessed as decided a love of 
exploring the very sources of affection, and dissecting 
character through all the convolutions of appearance. 
No one can read his novels without feeling that 
Brown was a psychologist as well as a scholar ; and 
the critic of judgment and candour must admit that 
his perception of the intricate in mental processes, 
and the profound and the conflicting in human 



286 THE SUPERNATURALIST. 

emotion, if embodied in a choice dramatic or elaborate 
narrative form, would have continued to interest like 
the tragedies of Joanna Baillie and the romances of 
Scott. As it is, we turn to our countryman's writ- 
ings with that peculiar interest which belongs only to 
what is initiative, full of promise, and significant 
of beauty, truth, and power, in a transition or 
inadequately developed state. We trace the foot- 
steps of genius ere they move with entire confidence, 
follow them in wayward paths ; and turn, with 
curious sympathy, from the works of more fortunate, 
though not more richly endowed writers, to those 
early and original specimens. 



THE LITEEAEY STATESMAN: 

MASSIMO D' AZEGLIO. 

It is seldom that the noble aims and benign senti- 
ments of the genuine artist find development in life. 
His efficiency, however refined and graceful in itself, 
rarely can be traced to a practical issue ; his dominion 
is usually confined to the vague realms of thought, 
and his name familiar only to those who explore the 
world of fancy and ideas. A rare and beautiful excep- 
tion to this abstract career of the artist in literature 
is now visible in the case of Massimo d' Azeglio, the 
present secretary of state of Sardinia. It has become 
his fortunate destiny to realize, however imperfectly, 
in action, the dreams of his youth ; to administer, to a 
certain extent at least, the principles which previously 
found only written expression ; and to be the agent of 
some of the political and social ameliorations, which, 
at a less auspicious era, he could but suggest, 
illustrate, and prophesy. AVe can hardly imagine a 
more elevated satisfaction to a generous mind, thau 



288 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

the privilege of thus making tangible what was once 
ideal, carrying into affairs the results of deliberate 
study, and giving social embodiment to long- cherished 
and patiently evolved truths. To feel the interest 
and realize the significance of such a career, we must 
compare the first work of the gifted novelist with 
the last discourse of the minister of foreign affairs ; 
and trace his identity of opinion and sentiment, from 
the glowing patriotism of " Mccolo de' Lapi " and 
" Ettore Fieramosca " to the reforms which have 
rendered Sardinia the most free and progressive of 
the Italian states. It is through his genuine patriot- 
ism, indeed, that D' Azeglio is both a popular writer 
and a liberal statesman ; his fictions are derived from 
the same inspiration as his public acts ; he is a man 
of the people, and an efficient and honoured citizen of 
Italy, by virtue of a love of country not less remark- 
able for intelligence than for sincerity. This is his 
great distinction. Neither to the circumstances of 
his birth, education, nor experience, is he indebted for 
the independence, wisdom, and zeal of his national 
feeling, but altogether to the promptings of a noble 
heart and vigorous understanding. This eminent 
trait — his intelligent patriotism — both of his character 
and his genius, is exhibited with beautiful consistency, 
first in an artistic, then in an argumentative, and 
finally in an administrative, manner. It pervades his 
life as well as his books, now finding utterance in the 
fervid works of an ancient Tuscan patriot, now in 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 289 

a direct and calm appeal to the reason of his con- 
temporaries, and again in the salutary projects and 
unfaltering purpose of the ministerial reformer. 

In the history of Sardinia, there are obvious facts 
and tendencies indicative of a liberal destiny ; — vistas, 
as it were, of light athwart the gloom of despotic 
rule, and low and interrupted, yet audible, breathings 
of that spirit of liberty and national progress now 
evidently becoming more permanent and vital. The 
nucleus of the monarchy was Savoy, around which 
were grouped the fragments of several states, — the 
old kingdom of Burgundy and remains of the Carlo- 
vingian and Prankish empire; but towards the end 
of the thirteenth century its individuality was fixed 
by the will of Count Asmodeus the Sixth ; and by 
the peace of Utrecht it became a state of Europe. 
Although the power of the crown was unlimited, the 
government was administered by three ministers, and 
the succession confined to the male line ; the assent 
of the estates was requisite for the imposition of new 
taxes, and, while the nobility formed a large class, it 
was one not exempt from taxation. The traveller who 
visits the church of La Superga at Turin, and muses 
over her buried kings, will recall traits of royal 
character not un worthy of the superb mausoleum. In 
the forty-three years of his reign, Charles Emmanuel 
the Third, both as a civic and military ruler, preserved 
a high character. In his disputes with the Pope, he 
successfully maintained the right of the state to make 

u 



290 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

all ecclesiastical appointments ; and the concordat was 
confirmed by Benedict the Fourteenth in 1742. The 
new code of 1770 was in advance of the times, and 
the country flourished under its provisions. But these 
incidental advantages were not sufficient to modify 
the natural influence of despotism upon the character 
of the people; and the acknowledged superiority of 
the Sardinians in vigour and breadth of nature is 
perhaps not less owing to local and social circum- 
stances. Among these we are disposed to reckon the 
variety of elements that constitute the state ; it com- 
bines interior plains with mountains and sea-coast, — 
the fertile levels of Asti and Alessandria, and the 
distant island of Sardinia ; while Piedmont, as its 
name suggests, lies at the foot of the Pennine Alps, 
in which are the Great Saint Bernard on her north, 
and of the Grecian and Cottian Alps, including Mont 
Blanc and Mont Cenis, towards Prance and Savoy ; 
and in the direction of the south are the Maritime 
Alps, separating it from Genoa and Mce. 

Another propitious influence that distinguishes 
Piedmont is the existence of a large body of Protest- 
ants, whose contests with the Catholic power early 
broke up the monotony of prescriptive opinion, and 
tended to enlighten and invigorate the adjacent people. 
Milton's noble sonnet to the Waldenses of Piedmont 
is a familiar memorial of their heroism and sufferings ; 
protected by their mountain barriers, they defeated 
the army of the Pope, who lost not less than seven hun- 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 291 

dred men in the struggle. The actual effect, however, 
of so complete a despotism as that which originally 
invested the territory, has been described in a vivid 
and graphic manner by another poet. Alneri, in his 
ingenuous autobiography, gives us a melancholy picture 
of an education under royal authority. His fame is 
one of the redeeming associations that beguile the 
traveller at Turin. In 1798, Charles Emmanuel the 
Fourth ceded his whole territory to the French, with 
the exception of the island of Sardinia ; and four years 
subsequently, abdicated in favour of his brother, whu. 
upon his return after the peace of Paris in 1815, re- 
stored the old constitution as far as practicable, read- 
mitted the Jesuits, subscribed to the Holy Alliance, 
and established a rigorous censorship. The next year, 
harassed by the occupation of his kingdom by the 
Austrians, he also resigned in favour of his brother, 
Charles Felix. The Congress of Vienna, in 1822, 
provided for the evacuation of foreign troops ; but 
before three years had elapsed the usual enactments 
of arbitrary power crushed whatever germs of a liberal 
policy remained ; by a royal edict, such of her inhabit- 
ants as were not possessed of at least four hundred 
dollars were forbidden to acquire the first elements of 
learning ; and only those having a certain investment 
in the funds were allowed to enter the university. 
Translations of G-oethe, Schiller, "Wieland, and other 
authors were prohibited. From time to time, formid- 
able conspiracies against a government so tyrannical 



292 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

were discovered ; the most important, that of 1821, 
was not without temporary success, since the regent, 
Charles Albert, was compelled to swear to the Spanish 
constitution. The spirit of the age and the lessons of 
experience were not altogether lost upon this prince, 
whose real character seems but recently to have been 
appreciated. We can desire no better evidence of his 
sincere love of country and benign projects, than the 
fact that, many years since, when comparative tran- 
quillity prevailed in Europe, he was accustomed to hold 
long and confidential interviews with our representa- 
tive at his court, for the purpose of eliciting informa- 
tion as to the means and method of gradually amelio- 
rating the institutions, not only of Sardinia, but of 
Italy. He long cherished the hope of giving her 
national unity, of combining from all her states an 
efficient army, and thus expelling the Austrians from 
the soil. This he believed to be the first step towards 
a constitutional government : popular education and 
military training he more or less encouraged in his 
own dominions, with this great ultimate object in view; 
and he certainly possessed the most efficient native 
troops, and the best-founded popularity, among the 
Italian princes. Since his death, impartial observers 
concur in deeming him far more unfortunate than 
treacherous ; a reaction has justly taken place in the 
public estimation of his motives and career ; and no 
candid inquirer can fail to recognise in him a brave 
ruler, who gave a decided impulse to liberal ideas, 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 293 

advanced the Italian cause, and became one of its 
involuntary martyrs. 

" Yea, verily, Charles Albert has died well ; 

And if he lived not all so, as one spoke, 
The sin passed softly with the passing-bell. 

For he was shriven, I think, in cannon- smoke, 
And, taking off his crown, made visible 

A hero's forehead. Shaking Austria's yoke, 
He shattered his own hand and heart. ' So best.' 

His last words were, upon his lonely bed, — 
* I do not end like popes and dukes at least, — 

Thank God for it.' And now that he is dead. 
Admitting it is proved and manifest 

That he was worthy, with a discrowned head, 
To measure heights with patriots, let them stand 

Beside the man in his Oporto shroud, 
And each vouchsafe to take him by the hand, 

And kiss him on the cheek, and say aloud, 
' Thou, too, hast suffered for our native land ! 

My brother, thou art one of us. Be proud ! ' " * 

Into this amphibious country,— as Piedmont is 
quaintly called by the Italian tragic poet, — into this 
kingdom composed of the fragments of shattered 
dynasties, the scene of religious persecution, the 
heritage of a long line of brave and despotic kings, 
who adorned it with magnificent temples of religion 
by taxes wrung from an ignorant people and extorted 
from a pampered nobility, — into this romantic land, 
crowned with Alpine summits and indented with 
emerald vales, — a region memorable for many a hard- 
fought field, and as the home of Eousseau, Alfieri, 
and Pellico, — Massimo d' Azeglio was born, on the 

* Mrs. Browning's " Casa Guidi Windows." 



294 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

2nd of October, 1798. His family was both ancient 
and noble ; and Turin, his native city, a capital so 
near the confines of France as to be more exposed to 
the influx of continental ideas than any other 
metropolis of the land. A more vigorous and 
intelligent race tread its streets, and a bolder 
peasantry dwell amid the mountains around, than 
belong to the sickly Campagna or the Lazzaroni 
shores : the soldier has a manlier bearing, and the 
priest a franker aspect ; while in society, not only the 
language, but the enlightenment, of the French 
prevails. At the cafes you find more foreign journals, 
in the salons a less antediluvian tone ; the mellow 
atmosphere of the past that broods over the more 
southern districts is here scarcely perceptible, and a 
certain modern air and freshness of life immediately 
strike the traveller from that direction, as he enters 
the Sardinian capital. Here Azeglio's early education 
was strictly private ; he then passed through the 
usual college tuition, entered the militia, and soon 
became an army officer. His natural tastes, however, 
were for art and politics. Accordingly, when sent 
minister to Eome, at a subsequent period, we find 
him assiduously cultivating the fine arts; and in a 
short time he became a skilful landscape painter. 
Here his latent and instinctive taste and capabilities 
genially unfolded ; the impressive ruins, the treasures 
of the Vatican, and the companionship of artists, 
continually informed and inspired his mind, which 
rapidly and gracefully developed in an atmosphere 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 295 

so accordant with its original bias. "We frequently 
have occasion to remark the affinity between the arts 
of design and certain departments of literature ; and 
seldom can this relation be traced with more charming 
effect than in the writings of D' Azeglio. The 
clearness of design, the felicitous adaptation of the 
atmosphere to the outline, the grouping, scenic 
descriptions, and fidelity to those laws of historical 
perspective, which are so analogous to the same 
principles in painting, — all unfold themselves to the 
critical reader of his masterly narratives. We feel, 
as we read, that the best preparation for that species 
of literary art is the discipline of the accomplished 
draughtsman; for an historical romance, in its true 
significance, is like an elaborate picture, subject to 
the same conditions of light and shade, truth to fact 
and nature, and harmonious conception. Azeglio 
delineates in language with a patient attention to 
details, a wise regulation of colour, and a constant 
eye to unity of effect, which we at once refer to his 
studies in the Roman Academy and galleries, and his 
familiarity with the pencil and palette. It was not, 
however, until the maturity of his powers that his 
genius found scope in language : before he had 
acquired fame as a novelist, the intrinsic qualities of 
the man won him an exalted place in the estimation 
of a circle of friends, including the most illustrious 
names of Lombardy. On his removal to Milan, in 
1830, his urbanity of spirit, fluent expression, man- 



296 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

liness, and evident intellectual ability, had thus 
gained him numerous admirers; and Grossi and 
Manzoni were among his most intimate and attached 
companions. It is an interesting coincidence, that 
the destined successor of the first of Italian novelists 
became his son-in-law. D' Azeglio espoused the 
daughter of Manzoni ; and somewhat of the domestic 
pathos which gives a melancholy charm to his principal 
work is doubtless the reflection of his own sad 
experience, for but a single year of conjugal happiness 
followed his marriage, his bride having died soon after 
giving birth to a daughter, who has since found a true 
mother in Luigia Blondell, the present wife of 
D' Azeglio. The social character of Milan is rather 
literary than artistic ; and it seems a natural inference, 
that, when the embryo statesman and clever landscape 
painter exchanged the Eternal City for the Lombard 
capital, and found himself in the centre of a dis- 
tinguished group of patriotic men of letters, the chief 
of whom was bound to him by ties of family as well 
as sympathy of taste, he should catch the spirit 
of authorship, and seek to embody in that form the 
knowledge acquired in another field, and the as- 
pirations that craved more emphatic utterance than 
could be expressed by the silent canvas. In 1833, 
therefore, appeared "Ettore Eieramosca, or the 
Challenge of Barletta," the best Italian historical 
romance since the "Promessi Sposi." Its easy and 
copious style, its truth of description and distinct 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 297 

characterization, the simplicity of its plot, and, above 
all, the thoroughly Italian nature of the argument, 
instantly established its popularity. The incident 
upon which the story is founded is as familiar to the 
historical reader as it is memorable in the annals of 
Italy ; — that of a drawn battle between thirteen 
Italian and the same number of French knights, 
occasioned by the challenge of the former, for an 
imputation cast upon their national bravery by one of 
the latter. Sanctioned as was the encounter by the 
leaders of both armies, witnessed by a large concourse, 
including citizens and soldiers of France, Spain, and 
Italy, — the ferocious zeal of the combatants, the 
duration of the struggle, the patriotic as well as 
individual sense of honour involved, and, finally, the 
signal triumph of the Italian arms, render the scene 
one of intense interest. Azeglio availed himself, with 
singular tact and wisdom, of this episode in the early 
wars of his country, to revive that sentiment of 
national unity which so many years of dispersion and 
tyranny had obscured, but not extinguished, in the 
Italian heart. From the records of the past he thus 
evoked the spirit so requisite to consecrate the 
present. Ettore Fieramosca is the ideal of an Italian 
knight ; his unfortunate but nobly cherished love, his 
prowess, beauty, and fiery enthusiasm for his country, 
his chivalric accomplishments and entire self-devotion, 
beautiful and attractive as they are, become more 
impressive from the strict historical fidelity with 



298 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

which they are associated. The games, laws, costume, 
turns of thought and speech, and military and popular 
habits of the era, are scrupulously given. Among the 
characters introduced are Cesar Borgia and Vittoria 
Colonna, names that eloquently typify the two 
extremes of Italian character, — the integrity of which, 
in its villany and its virtue, is admirably preserved ; 
the ecclesiastic, the innkeeper, the man-at-arms, the 
gossiping citizen, and the prince, of that day, are 
portrayed to the life. Many of the local scenes 
described have the clearness of outline and the 
vividness of tint which make them permanent 
reminiscences to the contemplative reader, and have 
associated them in the minds of his countrymen with 
the hero of D' Azeglio's romance and the sentiment of 
national honour. 

In 1841 appeared "Niccolo de' Lapi," the work 
which established D' Azeglio's fame as a literary 
artist and a man of decided genius. The same 
patriotic instinct guided his pen as in his previous 
enterprise ; but the design was more elaborate and 
finished, and the conception wrought out through 
more extensive research and a higher degree of 
feeling. The time chosen is that terrible epoch when 
Florence defended herself alone against the arms of 
Clement the Seventh and Charles the Fifth. In 
his account of the siege of 1529-30, he follows 
Varchi in regard to the prominent external facts ; 
but into the partial and imperfect record of the 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 299 

historian he breathed the life of nature and tradition. 
For this purpose, the documents of the age were 
assiduously collated ; the monuments, walls, and towers 
of Florence interrogated ; the bastions of Saint Miniato, 
the palaces of the Medici and Puzzi, the Bargello, 
the piazza, ancient private dwellings — the courts 
and staircases, the portraits and legends — every 
tradition and memorial of the period, examined, to 
acquire the requisite scenic and local material, which 
are wrought up with such authentic minuteness as 
to form a complete picture, and one which the obser- 
vation of every visitor to the Tuscan capital at once 
and entirely recognizes. Nor has he bestowed less 
care upon the spirit and action of his romance. The 
people, as they once existed, in all their original 
efficiency and individual character, are reproduced, 
as they then lived, thought, suffered, and battled, 
after three hundred years of internal agitation and 
wars, proving themselves adequate to cope at once 
with both Emperor and Pope, and falling at last 
rather through treachery than conquest. The very 
atmosphere of those times seems to float around us 
as we read. The republic lives in its original vigour. 
We realize the events of history reanimated by the 
fire of poetic invention. Niccolo is the ideal of an 
Italian patriot, as Fieramosca is of a knight. There 
is a Lear-like solemnity in his vehement passion and 
religious self-control, a Marino Faliero dignity in 
his political ruin. The consistent earnestness of his 



300 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

character, the wisdom and majesty, the fierce indigna- 
tion and holy resignation, the high counsels and 
serene martyrdom, of the venerable patriot, are at 
once exalted and touching. Depressed by existent 
degeneracy, Azeglio seems to have evoked this noble 
exemplar from the past to revive the dormant hopes 
and elevate the national sentiment of his country- 
men. Around this grand central figure he has 
grouped, with rare skill and marvellous effect, a 
number of historical personages and domestic cha- 
racters, whose words, acts, and appearance give a 
distinct reality and dramatic effect to the whole 
conception. It is enough to mention Savonarola, 
Feruccio, and Malatesta — the reformer, the soldier, 
and the civic ruler — all reproduced with accuracy, 
and their agency upon the spirit of the age and the 
course of events suggested with consummate tact. 
From the intensely exciting scenes enacted in the 
camp, around the walls of the besieged city, on the 
bastions, in the cabinet at Volterra, we are suddenly 
transported to the home of Lapi, and witness the 
domestic life of the age. The family portraits are 
exquisitely discriminated; Lisa and Laodamia are 
two of those finely contrasted and beautifully con- 
ceived female characters which, like Scott's Minna 
and Brenda, leave a Shakspearian identity of impres- 
sion on the reader's mind. Lamberto is a fine 
type of the youth of Tuscany; Troilo, of Italian 
duplicity; and Bindo, of a younger son, beloved 



MASSIMO D' AZEGLIO. 301 

and brave; while the struggle between monastic 
and martial impulses, so characteristic of the epoch, 
is vividly depicted in Fanfulla. Selvaggia is, also, a 
representative, both in her wild career and her 
genuine penitence, of a species native to the soil. As 
Buskin studied the architecture of "Venice to fix 
dates and analyze combinations, D' Azeglio appears 
to have scrutinized the art, literature, and monuments 
of Florence, to gather the varied and legitimate 
elements which compose this work. He catches the 
voice of faction, and prolongs its echo ; he paints the 
edifice until it stands visibly before the imagination 
or the memory ; he reveals the mood of the patriot 
and the lover, so that we share its deep emotion ; 
and leads us, as it were, through the streets of the 
besieged city, to the bedside of the tender maiden 
and the vigil of the anxious citizen, till the objects 
and spirit of the age and people become, through 
sympathy and observation, like conscious realities. 
Among the incidental merits of this work may also be 
reckoned its philosophic insight, exhibited not only 
in a fine study of the laws of character, but in the 
influence of political opinion upon domestic life, the 
conflict between patriotic and personal sentiment, 
the local agency of institutions, and the mutual 
relation of military and religious enthusiasm. Jsor can 
we fail to perceive, throughout, the singular advan- 
tages enjoyed by the historical novelist in Italy 5 
finding in her works of art, her temples, palaces, and 



302 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

libraries the most significant and, at the same time, 
authentic hints and glimpses of the life of the past. 
Many exquisite touches of picturesque or suggestive 
limning, such as mark the patient explorer and the 
observant artist, occur in " Mccolo de' Lapi." But 
if to these characteristics the work owes much of its 
immediate popularity, and not a little of its intrinsic 
interest, the standard literary value attached to it is, 
in no small degree, derived from the style. The 
language of D' Azeglio is terse, flowing, and appro- 
priate. He writes in a calm, though fervent spirit ; 
his tone is chastened and intense ; and he uses words 
with a keen sense of their meaning and delicate 
adaptation. He has drawn a picture of the age, not 
only alive with moral sentiment and warmed by 
patriotic emotion, but so managed as to excite pro- 
found respect, as well as earnest sympathy — to blend 
in harmonious contrast the office of historian and 
poet. 

Indeed, D' Azeglio' s great distinction is a certain 
moderation, judgment, and rational view of the pros- 
pects and needs of his country, rarely found in unison 
with so much zeal and genius. He early manifested 
this trait in habits of study and investigation, and 
has since, and always, been true to himself in this 
regard, as a man of action. It is on account of his 
excellent sense, logical power, and reverence for truth, 
that he has so eminently succeeded both as an artist 
and a statesman. No better proof of his superiority 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 303 

to the mass of revolutionists can be desired, than the 
sentiments and arguments of his well-known political 
essay induced by the occurrences in Eomagna in the 
autumn of 1845. He there states, without the least 
fanaticism or exaggeration, the real state of the case, 
and points out clearly and justly the reforms necessary 
in the Pontifical States. He rebukes all premature 
and ill-considered measures on the part of the op- 
pressed people, as only calculated to postpone their 
enfranchisement and prejudice their cause ; he wisely 
advocates gradual enlightenment, and eloquently de- 
scribes the fatal consequences of rash and ignorant 
movements. He gives a plain and authentic state- 
ment of facts to show the utter impolicy, as well as 
inhumanity, of secret prosecutions, resort to foreign 
arms, to base espionage, to a contraband system, 
censorship, and an inconsistent and unreliable code, 
and all the other flagrant evils of Papal sway ; and 
while thus effectively reproaching the government, lie 
is equally indignant and impartial in his condemna- 
tion of reckless agitators and precipitate heroes, who 
not only vainly sacrifice themselves, but bring into 
fatal disrepute the more judicious patriots. Azeglio 
comprehends the inevitable agency of public sentiment 
as a means of national redemption; he understands 
the Italian character, and points out the (Inference 
between animal and civic courage ; he thinks fools as 
dangerous as knaves to the cause of freedom ; shows 
the need of political education, pleads for a due regard 



304 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

to time, opportunity, and means in order to secure 
permanent advantage, and declares that the great 
lesson his countrymen have to learn is to avoid the 
two extremes of reckless despair and inert resignation, 
to improve, to hope, to prepare the way, and thus gain 
moral vigour, the world's respect, and God's favour ; 
and, while he demonstrates the injustice of the Papal 
government, he would not have its victims imitate 
the madman, who, in flying from an insect, ran over a 
precipice, or the virgins in the parable, who took no 
oil with their lamps. He gives instances, on the one 
hand, of the decadence of the towns of Eomagna in 
consequence of misrule, and, on the other, of the con- 
cessions of despotic governments to the consistent and 
enlightened appeal of their subjects. In his strict 
justice, he even praises Austria for her administration 
of law, compared with the Roman tyranny, that makes 
the judge and accuser one ; and selects from his own 
state an example of treachery with which to con- 
trast the self-devotion of those who fought at Bar- 
letta. This able pamphlet, entitled " Ultimi Casi di 
Romagna," is one of the most candid and thoughtful 
expositions of actual political evils, and the only 
available means of overcoming them, which a native 
writer has produced. No one can read it without 
sympathy for the oppressed, indignation against the 
government, and respect for the reasoning of Azeglio. 
It is not less intelligible than philosophic ; and 
subsequent events have amply proved the sound- 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 305 

ness of its arguments and the correctness of its in- 
ferences. 

If, in view of the many abortive revolutions, the 
want of unity, the influence of Jesuitism the inter- 
ference of France and Austria, and all the other 
antagonistic conditions that environ the intelligent 
votaries of Italian independence and nationality, we 
seek a clew by which to thread the dark labyrinth of 
her misfortunes, and find a way into the light of 
freedom and progress, what rational plan or ground 
of hope suggests itself? Only, as it seems to us, the 
practical adoption in some section of the land of those 
political and social reforms which, once realized, will 
inevitably spread ; the successful experiment in a 
limited sphere, which, by the force of example and 
moral laws, will gradually extend. Let the capacity 
for self-government, the advantages of liberal institu- 
tions, be demonstrated in one state, and they cannot 
fail to penetrate the whole nation. A few years since, 
Eome seemed the destined nucleus for such a change, 
and subsequently Tuscany ; but the bigotry of eccle- 
siastical power in the one, and the grasp of Austrian 
power in the other, soon led to a fatal reaction. The 
course of events and the facts of to-day now indis- 
putably designate Sardinia as the region whence the 
light is to emanate. Favoured, as we have seen, by 
the character of her people, her local position, and 
the traits of her past history, the very disaster that 
checked her army has tended to concentrate and 

x 



306 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

develop the spirit of the age and the elements of 
constitutional liberty within her borders. The loss 
of the battle of No vara and the abdication of Charles 
Albert, though apparently great misfortunes, have 
resulted in signal benefits. After securing peace from 
their adversaries chiefly by a pecuniary sacrifice, the 
king and citizens of Piedmont turned their energies 
towards internal reform with a wisdom and good faith 
which are rapidly yielding legitimate fruit. Public 
schools were instituted, the press made free, the 
Waldenses allowed to quit their valleys, build churches, 
and elect representatives, the privileges of the clergy 
abolished, and the two bishops who ventured to 
oppose the authority of her state tried, condemned, 
and banished, the Pope's interference repudiated, the 
right of suffrage instituted, railroads from Turin to 
Genoa and from Alessandria to Lago Maggiore con- 
structed, the electric telegraph introduced, liberal 
commercial treaties formed, docks built, and cheap 
postal laws enacted. In a word, the great evils that 
have so long weighed down the people of the Italian 
peninsula — unlimited monarchical power, aristocratic 
and clerical immunities derived from the Middle Ages, 
the censorship of the press, the espionage of the police, 
and intolerance of all but the Catholic religion — no 
longer exist in Sardinia. Eegarding the constitution 
of Charles Albert as a sacred legacy, his son and 
people resolved to uphold and carry out its principles ; 
and they have done so, with scarcely any violence or 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 307 

civil discord. Accordingly, an example is now before 
the Italians, and within their observation and sympa- 
thy, of a free, progressive, and enlightened govern- 
ment ; and this one fact is pregnant with hope for the 
entire nation. Only fanatics and shallow adventurers 
behold the signs of promise without grateful emotion. 
The wise and true friends of Italy, at home and 
abroad, welcome the daily proofs of a new era for that 
unhappy land afforded by the prosperity and freedom 
now enjoyed in Piedmont.* It would be manifestly 
unjust to ascribe all these propitious changes to the 
personal influence of D' Azeglio ; but he deserves the 
credit of projecting and successfully advocating many 
of the most effective ameliorations, and of being the 
consistent and recognized expositor of the liberal 
policy of the state. The accession of Pius the Ninth 
was greeted by him with all the delight the hopeful 
dawn of his career naturally inspired among the Italian 
patriots. He published a letter full of applause and 
encouragement, and had a long and satisfactory inter- 
view with the new Pope ; and when the bitter 
disappointment ensued, he carried out, in his official 
capacity, the sentiments he professed, and to which 
Pius was shamelessly recreant. Like Henry Martyn 
in England, he proposed the emancipation of the Jews 
in Piedmont, and his philanthropy is manifested in the 

* We are gratified to perceive that one of the few Italian 
journals published in the United States, the Eco d' Italia of 
New York, fully records and ably sustains the noble example 
of the Sardinian government. 






308 THE LITERARY STATESMAN : 

establishment of public baths and fires for the poor. 
He took a bold and decided stand against the Pope, 
and originated the treaty with England. In his 
address to the Sardinian parliament, on the 12th 
of February 1852, he expresses the noblest senti- 
ments and principles, in language of simple and ear- 
nest vigour ; — repudiating what are called reasons of 
state, maintaining that the same morality is applica- 
ble to governments and individuals, that integrity has 
taken the place of astuteness, that good sense and 
good faith are all that the true statesman requires to 
guide him, and that the press and facility of inter- 
course which enable Turin, Moscow, and Edinburgh 
to feel simultaneously the force of public opinion, 
have emancipated rulers from the narrow resource of 
subtlety, and induced among all enlightened govern- 
ments reliance on the absolute power of truth and 
fidelity. He attributes, in this masterly discourse, 
the peaceful achievement of so much permanent good 
in the state, to the virtue of the people, the prudence 
of the legislature, and the loyalty of the king. 

How long Sardinia will be permitted to carry on 
within her own limits the progressive system that now 
so happily distinguishes her from the other continental 
governments, is extremely doubtful. The asylum she 
gives to political refugees, the unpleasant truths her 
free press announces, and the operation of her free- 
trade principles, occasion the greatest annoyance to 
Austria, and excite the sympathetic desires of less- 



MASSIMO d' azeglio. 309 

favoured states. It is scarcely to be hoped that inter- 
ference of a more active kind than has jet taken place 
will be attempted. Meantime, however, it is but just 
to recognize the noble example she has set of en- 
lightened self-government, and to award the highest 
praise to the generous and judicious statesman at the 
head of her policy. It will prove a remarkable coin- 
cidence if the enterprise recently broached in Xew 
York, of a line of steamers between that city and 
Grenoa, is realized ; thus uniting by frequent inter- 
course the commercial emporium of the New World 
with the birthplace of her discoverer, and opening a 
direct and permanent communication between the 
greatest republic of the earth and the one state of 
Italy which has proved herself sufficiently intelligent, 
moral, and heroic, to reform peacefully an oppressive 
heritage of political and social evils. 

The efficacy of D'Azeglio's patriotic zeal is, as we 
have endeavoured to show, derived from his knowledge 
and judgment. Tears of exile have not caused him to 
lose sight of the actual exigencies of the country. 
Having lived alternately at Turin, Florence, Genoa, 
Milan, Lucca, and Borne, and visited all parts of the 
peninsula, he is quite familiar with the condition of 
the people of the respective states, the special local 
evils of each administration, and the available re- 
sources of the nation. Thoroughly versed in the art, 
literature, and history of Italy, enjoying the intimacy 
and confidence of her leading spirits, and practically 
acquainted with diplomatic life, his views are not 



310 THE LITERARY STATESMAN. 

random speculations, but well-considered opinions, his 
aims distinct and progressive, and the spirit in which 
he works that of a philosopher. The beautiful ema- 
nations of his study and genius have awakened, far and 
wide, the pride and affection of his countrymen. In 
1845 he commenced, in the " Antologia Italiana," a 
new romance, founded on the Lombard league, which 
the cessation of that journal and the claims of official 
life have obliged him to suspend. In 1848 he fought 
in Lombardy ; and early in the succeeding year an un- 
ostentatious but select and cordial banquet was given 
him in Eome by his admirers and friends, to congratu- 
late one another on the new hopes of Italian regene- 
ration which events then justified. Through all the 
chances and changes of the times, the noble author 
and statesman has serenely maintained his faith and 
wisely dedicated his mind to his country, emphatically 
giving utterance to truth and reason, both to fanatical 
patriots and despotic rulers ; — to the one demonstrating 
the inutility of spasmodic efforts, of guerillas, of in- 
adequate resistance and inopportune action ; and to 
the other calmly proving the absolute folly, as well as 
wickedness, of a total disregard of the spirit of the age 
and the claims of humanity. The present condition 
and prospects of his native state now justify his argu- 
ments and realize his dearest hopes ; and it is her 
peculiar glory to have at the head of her administration, 
not only a liberal and wise statesman, but one of the 
most gifted and patriotic of her own sons. 



THE OENITHOLOGIST : 
AUDUBOX. 

A pecultae charm invests the lives of naturalists. 
The path of the military conqueror is blood-stained, 
that of the statesman involved and tortuous, while the 
pale legions of avarice usually beset the goal of mari- 
time discovery, and associate the names of its heroes 
with scenes of anarchy and oppression ; but the lover 
of nature, who goes forth to examine her wonders or 
copy her graces, is impelled by a noble enthusiasm, 
and works in the spirit both of love and wisdom. I 
cannot read of the brave wanderings of Michaux in 
search of his sylvan idols ; of Hugh Miller, while at 
his mason's work, reverently deducing the grandest 
theories of creation from a fossil of the " old red sand- 
stone ;" or of Wilson, made an ornithologist, in feeling 
at least, by the sight of a red-headed woodpecker that 
greeted his eyes on landing in America — without a 
warm sympathy with the simple, pure, and earnest 
natures of men thus drawn into a life-devotion to 



312 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

nature, by admiration of her laws and sensibility to 
her beauty. If I thoughtfully follow the steps, and 
analyze the characters of such men, I usually find 
them a most attractive combination of the child, the 
hero, and the poet — with, too often, a shade of the 
martyr. An inkling of the naturalist is indeed cha- 
racteristic of poets. Cowper loved hares ; Gray, gold- 
fish ; Alfieri, horses ; and Sir Walter Scott, dogs ; 
but, when pursued as a special vocation, ornithology 
seems the most interesting department of natural 
history. 

Birds constitute the poetry of the animal creation : 
they seem, like flowers, the gratuitous offspring of 
nature ; and although their utility, as the destroyers 
of baneful insects, is well known, I habitually associate 
them with the sense of beauty. Indeed, familiarity 
alone blinds us to the suggestive charm attached to 
winged creatures ; and* I can scarcely imagine the 
hopelessness that would brood over woods and fields, 
if deprived of the tuneful voices and graceful move- 
ments of the feathered tribe. The gift of aerial 
locomotion they enjoy is a distinction which robes 
them with' an attractive mystery, and leads me to 
regard them as creatures of less restrained volition 
than any other species ; freedom of action is thus one 
of their less obvious charms, but one to which I instinc- 
tively refer a certain exemption from ordinary trials, 
and capacity of high pleasures: the chartered liber- 
tines of the air, ranging its vast expanse as inclination 



AUDUBOX. 313 

or necessity dictates, they seem to belong to a more 
highly endowed order of animal life, and to spiritualize 
the principle of motion by grace, alacrity, and a power 
to counteract natural forces. The flight of a bird, 
attentively watched, is one of the most inspiring reve- 
lations of nature. The ease, rapidity, and grace with 
which it ranges the "upper deep," and the apparent 
caprice or unerring instinct that regulates its course, 
appeal at once to science and poetry, and the minstrel 
as well as the naturalist is warmed into observant 
admiration. Delicacy of organization and exquisite 
plumage add to the interest thus excited, and when I 
combine with these attractions that of a versatile 
musical endowment, it is not surprising that birds 
have created such enthusiasm in the explorers of 
nature, and such affection in the untaught but suscep- 
tible. Animal spirits seem embodied in the swift, 
volatile, and gay tribe ; and Avhile they approach hu- 
man nature in this regard, its holier sympathies are 
illustrated by the domestic habits, the attachments, 
and individuality of birds ; and thus they become 
naturally linked with the most grateful associations of 
human life : so that in conversation, literature, and 
art, they occupy as distinctive and significant a relation 
as we award to any other order of creatures. 

To the natural theologian there are few illustrations 
more pleasing and available than those derived from 
the structure of birds ; its adaptation to their habits 
yields the most useful hints towards the invention of 



314 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

a flying machine: the perforated membrane which 
encloses the lungs, through which air passes into the 
cavities of the breast, abdomen, and even into the 
hollows of the bones ; the powerful muscles of the 
wings, the lightness and delicacy of the plumage, — 
increasing their buoyancy while protecting them from 
the weather, — the cleaving shape of the head and bill, 
and the rudder tail, mark them for inhabitants of the 
air, of which they consume a larger proportion in the 
ratio of their size than any other creatures; the 
magnitude of the brain, too, is proportionally greater ; 
and the complexity and perfection of their vocal 
organs is a problem for science ; while instinct asserts 
itself in their migratory and domestic habits, in a 
manner so remarkable that the history of birds has 
furnished more inspiration to story-tellers and poets 
than all the rest of the animal creation. In special 
adaptation the various modifications of beak and talons 
are wonderful ; how different a feeding-apparatus 
for instance, belongs to the woodpecker and the Cali- 
fornia fruit-eater! In the perfection of the senses, 
also, birds excel and share the pleasures of sight and 
sound with man, indicating their enjoyment with an 
almost human expression. The minute and exquisite 
beauties of insects, visible to us only through the 
microscope, have given rise to the belief that the 
richest provision exists for the gratification of their 
sight ; and it may as justly be inferred that birds are 
alive to the intricacies and refinements of sound to a 



AUDUBON. 315 

degree which I cannot realize ; the act of singing, and 
the innumerable cadences and versatility of note they 
exhibit, suggest that the world of sound has for them 
an infinite range of significance. In variety of apti- 
tude and vocation they also assimilate with the human 
species, some being, as it were, minstrels by profes- 
sion, and others architects or hunters ; and not until I 
enter into the labours of the ornithologist, can I 
imagine what numerous and modified species exist of 
birds of prey and of passage — the climbers, the gal- 
linaceous, the waders, and the web-footed. The won- 
derful process of ovation is yet another natural mystery 
revealed by birds, and Audubon used to speak of the 
rapture with which, when a boy, he hung over the 
newly-discovered nest, and looked upon the little 
shining eggs, so carefully and snugly disposed. Inde- 
pendent of the sense and beauty and the kindliness of 
feeling to which birds minister, they seem to embody 
and express pleasure more directly than any other 
offspring of Nature ; her benign influence is singularly 
associated with them ; the spontaneous and, as it were, 
vital joy that seems to animate their song and motions, 
brings the idea of enjoyment vividly to the heart — 
they seem to prophecy and proclaim happiness ; and, 
accordingly, the misanthropes repudiate, while the 
cheerful welcome them. It would require a degree of 
introspective attention rarely exercised to realize how 
much the familiar notes of bird acts upon our moods ; 
in the balmy stillness of a summer noon, the vernal 



316 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

air of a spring morning, or amid the gorgeons drapery 
of an autumn wood, the chirp, carol, or cry of birds 
breaks upon my solitude with an impression or a 
winsome effect kindling to the imagination and elo- 
quent to the heart. "Lord!" exclaims old Walton, 
" what music hast thou provided for thy saints in 
heaven when thou affordest bad men such music on 
earth ?" There appears to be a meaning in the sound 
beyond what reaches the ear ; it links itself with the 
aspects of nature, with the spirit of the hour, or 
blends with the sad reminiscence or the hopeful re- 
verie, like its echo or response : — 

"While mellow warble, sprightly trill 
The tremulous heart excite, 
And turns the balmy air to still 
The balancer's delight." 

There is, too, a metaphysical reason for the superior 
interest birds excite ; they have great variety and in- 
dividuality of character, and we instinctively apply 
then names to our acquaintances as the best and most 
available synonyms. "Who has not encountered human 
beings selfish as the cormorant, loquacious and unori- 
ginal as the parrot, vain as the peacock, gentle as the 
dove, chattering as the jay, volatile as the swallow, 
solemn as the owl, rapacious as the hawk, noble as the 
eagle, and so on through all the modifications of cha- 
racter ? There are, indeed, two human attributes 
which birds possess in a striking degree — affection 
and vanity. There is a bird in Mexico with a most 



AUDUBON. 317 

beautiful tail, that builds its nest with two openings, 
in order to go in and out without ruffling its feathers. 
Their brilliant and varied costume has suggested fabrics 
and patterns innumerable to more rational beings ; 
and many of them, apparently, take as conscious de- 
light in their array, and the display of it, and their 
vocal accomplishments, to win admiration or sym- 
pathy, as the most accomplished coquette or gallant. 
In fact, although they seek prey and build nests, their 
ways are quite social, and they seem born to leisure 
like people of fortune ; and it is this apparent immu- 
nity from care, this life of vagrant enjoyment, — as if 
mere flying about and singing were their destiny, — 
that renders birds, like flowers, so grateful to the 
mind and senses. The blue jay is a practical joker ; 
the snow-bunting delights in a storm, and the white 
owl in moonlight, quite as much as any poet ; the 
tailor-bird sews leaves together to make itself a nest 
with the skill of a modiste ; the cuckoo is an adept in 
small imposture — the Yankee-pedlar of birds ; the 
maternal instinct of the quail induces her to pretend 
lameness, and lead off urchins in search of her nest on 
a false track. There is an Indian bird of luxurious 
tastes, whose domicile is divided into several compart- 
ments, each of which it lights up at night with fire- 
flies. I cannot see the kingfisher intently gazing down 
upon the waters from a lofty tree, without realizing 
the wonderful visual adaptation of its optics. It is 
attested by many travellers, that when a mule falls 



318 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

dead on the plains of South America, although not a 
bird is visible to the human eye, in a few moments 
flocks of vultures appear, having either scented or seen 
their prey from so vast a distance as to indicate an 
incalculable power of the visual or olfactory nerves. 
I cannot see a flight of crows without thinking of the 
ancient time, when their course was so anxiously 
watched by the augurs ; nor can I hear the first wel- 
come-note of the robin, as he hops about the field 
before my dwelling, as if on a congratulatory visit at 
the advent of spring, without having the associations 
of childhood revived with the thought of that memor- 
able English ballad which consecrates this bird to 
youthful affections. 

Of the rude sculptured figures ou Egyptian tombs, 
the most correctly designed are those of birds ; and in 
that land of sunshine and mystery, the ibis was held 
sacred : while as effective accessories to the grand and 
monotonous landscape, most appropriately stands a 
solitary heron, apparently carved in bold relief against 
the twilight sky ; or, floating high above the traveller's 
head, is seen a symmetrical phalanx of flamingoes, 
their black wings and snowy bodies gracefully parting 
the ambient firmament. The hue of a Java sparrow's 
beak is inexpressibly cheery ; the habit of the ostrich 
of burying her eggs in the sand, and leaving them to 
be hatched by the sun, and the fidelity of the carrier- 
pigeon, are facts in natural history prolific of com- 
parisons. The antique design of the doves at a fountain 



AUDUBOX. 319 

is constantly repeated by mosaic and cameo workers ; 
and on sword, banner, and signet, the king of birds 
remains the universal emblem of freedom and power, 
equally significant of American liberty and Roman 
dominion. 

One of the most celebrated jurists in America was 
missed at dinner by his family, one day in the country ; 
and, after diligent search, was found in the hayloft, 
absorbed in watching a pair of swallows, and acknow- 
ledged that, accustomed as he was to technical and 
abstract investigations, the observation of animated 
nature proved a refreshment he could not have ima- 
gined. Few of us, indeed, can fail to have acquired 
a personal interest in birds, however we may have 
neglected their biography. A family with which we 
were domesticated abroad, had a pair of turtle-doves 
in the house, who flew, at pleasure, about, and ex- 
hibited no fear, except in the presence of strangers ; 
one of them died, and we were surprised at witnessing 
no indications of the despairing grief ascribed to this 
bird when thus bereft ; the anomaly was explained, 
however, when we noticed what an attachment the 
dove manifested towards a beautiful boy of six years ; 
her favourite resting-place was in the profuse golden 
hair of the child ; here she would sit brooding, while 
the boy was at his sports or his book, swaying to and 
fro with his movements, or quietly nestling when he 
assumed a fixed position. Sometimes, when the sun- 
shine fell upon the pair, in a picturesque attitude, 



320 THE ORNITHOLOGIST: 

the idea of a Cupid with one of his mother's doves, or 
of an infant St. John with this living emblem of 
beatitude, irresistibly suggested itself. The child was 
seized with a brain fever, and, after a brief illness, 
died; and then the dove's plaintive cooing was in- 
cessant ; she refused sustenance for a long time, and 
adopted a monastic life, in the high and dark folds of 
a window-curtain — abjuring her previous habits of 
sociability, and apparently consecrating her life to 
sorrow. Who has watched the yellow birds swinging 
on the lithe sprays of an elm in a JSTew England 
village, the flight of blackbirds, in the autumn, round 
the shores of Lake Champlain, or the graceful sweep 
of the curlews on the Atlantic coast, and not thence- 
forth found them indissolubly associated with these 
localities ? As I crossed the piazza of St. Mark, at 
Venice, for the first time, I noticed with surprise that 
the pigeons did not fly at my approach, and recalled 
the fact that they had been sacredly protected by the 
ancient government, and enjoyed prescriptive rights, 
which they obviously considered inviolable. It is a 
striking thought, when I contemplate it, that the 
eider-down that pillows the head of beauty, or trem- 
bles at the breath of her whose fair bosom it covers, 
was torn from the wild sea-bird; that the graceful 
plume that waves over the warrior's crest once sus- 
tained the poised eagle among the clouds, or winged 
the ostrich on his desert path. With how many 
evening reveries and reminiscences of sentiment is the 



AUDUBON. 321 

note of the whip-poor-will associated, and what an 
appropriate sound for the desolate marsh is the cry of 
the bittern! It is not surprising that tradition and 
poetry embalm the names of so many birds ; from the 
superstition of the ignorant mariner to the appre- 
ciative love of the educated bard, they, though so 
often sacrificed, are yet endeared to man. The fables 
of the roe and the phoenix are among their most 
remote memorials ; mythology has wedded them to 
her deities ; on tavern-signs they betoken good cheer, 
and on banners are national emblems. Burns utters 
a natural human sentiment when he asks, in the song. 
the litle birds o' bonnie Doon, how they can chant, 
and he sae fu o' care! One of the most exquisite 
metaphors in English poetry is that of Goldsmith, 
when he compares the good pastor's efforts to huv 
his charge to the skies to those of a bird tempting its 
offspring to fly ; and next to it is that of Byron, in 
allusion to Kirk White's early death, comparing him 
to the dying eagle who sees that his own feather 
winged the fatal shaft. And another more tender 
and graphic image still is that of Dante in the episode 
of Francesca de Eimini : — 

" Quali colorabe, dal disio chiamate, 

Con l'ali aperte e ferme al dolce nido 
Volan per l'aer dal voler portate : 
Cotal useir della schiera ov'e Dido, 
A noi venendo per l'aer maligno, 
Si forte fu l'affettuoso grido." 

Boccaccio's falcon and Sterne's starling, and the raven 

Y 



322 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

in Barnaby Budge, are classic birds, since rendered by 
genius the expositors of noble and humorous senti- 
ment. But in this, as in all other departments of 
nature, the most characteristic and feeling tributes 
emanate from the poets. 

The graceful flight and instinct of the waterfowl — 
the very sentiment of the bird, and the impression it 
makes upon a contemplative mind, have been embodied 
by Bryant : the very rhythm of that favourite poem 
seems to coincide with its lonely and sustained motion 
when sweeping in majestic curves the gray twilight of 
an autumn day. The superstition attached to birds 
has been used with consummate art in two poems, the 
popularity of which indicates how successfully the 
natural and supernatural may be wrought and blended 
in verse ; we need scarcely allude to Coleridge's 
Ancient Mariner and Poe's Eaven. 

The metre, images, and very diction of Shelley's ode 
to a skylark echo the aspiring, joyous flight and melody 
of that favourite bird of the poets. Hans Andersen's 
juvenile story of the " Ugly Duck" touches felicitously 
a comic vein, that observers are well aware may be 
amply suggested in this field; witness the graphic 
humour of Irving' s description of a rookery and a barn- 
yard fowl on a rainy day, in " The Stout Gentleman." 
For the peculiar sentiment that imaginative minds 
elicit from the song or appearance of birds, and the 
associations they awaken, we may refer to Milton's 
beautiful allusion to the nightingale, who " all night 



AUDUBOX. 323 

long her amorous descant sang," and the fine ode to 
the same melodious bird by Keats ; to Words-worth's 
ballad of "Poor Susan," Dana's "Beach bird," and 
Sprague's " Swallows that flew in at the Church 
Window." These instances of poems suggested by 
" wanderers of the upper deep," are not, perhaps, so 
illustrative of the peculiar influence they exert upon 
human sympathies, as the casual allusions and inci- 
dental metaphors which continually present themselves 
in the standard poets. As ornithology is more gene- 
rally studied, and the peculiar habits of these " aerial 
companions" of Audubon become more familiar, poetry 
will more definitely consecrate the subject; others of 
the species, besides the self-sacrificing pelican and the 
harmonious bulbul, will figure in story ; and the bards 
will follow the sagacious example of one of our own 
poets,* and by exact observation, render the character- 
istic advents of birds a means of effectively describing 
nature, as thus, in spring : — 

" Then bursts the song from every leafy glade, 
The yielding season's bridal serenade ; 
Then flush the wing, returning summer calls 
Through the deep arches of her forest halls ; 
The bluebird breathing from his azure plumes 
The fragrance borrow' d where the myrtle blooms ; 
The thrush, poor wanderer, dropping meekly down, 
Clad in his renmant of autumnal brown ; 
The oriole drifting like a flake of fire, 
Rent by the whirlwind from a blazing spire ; 

* Holmes. 



324 THE ORXITHOLOCtIST : 

The robin jerking his spasmodic throat, 

Repeats staccato his peremptory note ; 

The crack-brain' d bobolink courts his crazy mate, 

Poised on a bulwark tipsy with his weight ; 

Merry in his cage the lone canary sings, 

Feels the soft ah- and spreads his idle wings." 

Audubon's career as an ornithologist began and was 
prosecuted with an artistic rather than a scientific en- 
thusiasm. His father appeal's to hare been an intel- 
ligent lover of nature, and took pleasure in walking 
abroad with his son to observe her wonders. These 
colloquies and promenades made a lasting impression 
upon his plastic mind : it is evident that the habits 
and appearance of animated nature at once enlisted 
his sympathies ; the accidental view of a book of illus- 
trations in natural history excited the desire of imita- 
tion, and he began in a rude way tc delineate the 
forms, colours, attitudes, and, as far as possible, the 
expression of the creatures he so admired. Chagrined, 
but never wholly discouraged, at the ill-success of 
bis early attempts, he annually executed and de- 
stroyed hundreds of pictures and drawings, until 
long practice had given him the extraordinary skill 
which renders his mature efforts unequalled, both for 
authenticity and beauty. He artlessly confesses that 
tmding it impossible to possess or to live with the birds 
and animals that inspired his youthful love, he became 
ardently desirous to make perfect representations of 
them, and in this feeling we trace the germ of his sub- 
sequent greatness. Thus the origin of Audubon's 



AUDUBON. 325 

world-renowned achievements was disinterested. His 
love of nature was not philosophic, like that of 
Wordsworth ; nor scientific, like that of Humboldt ; 
nor adventurous, like that of Boone ; but special and 
artistic, — circumstances rather than native idiosyncrasy 
made him a naturalist ; and his knowledge was by no 
means so extensive in this regard as that of others less 
known to fame : but few men have indulged so genuine 
a love of nature for her own sake, and found such en- 
joyment in delineating one of the most poetical and 
least explored departments of her boundless kingdom. 
To the last his special ability, as an artistic naturalist. 
was unapproached ; and while one of his sons drew 
the outline, and another painted the landscape or the 
foreground, it was his faithful hand that, with a steel 
pen, made the hairy coat of the deer, or, with a fine 
pencil, added the exquisite plumage to the sea-fowl's 
breast. For years he fondly explored woods, prairies, 
and the Atlantic shores, and drew and coloured birds 
and beasts, without an idea of any benefit other than 
the immediate gratification thus derived. It was not 
until his interview with Lucien Bonaparte in 1824, and 
the latter' s unexpected offer to purchase his drawings, 
that he conceived the project of giving the results of 
his explorations to the world. Although, in pursuance 
of this intention, he embarked soon after for Europe 
with characteristic promptitude and eager hopes, the 
loneliness of his position and the want of means and 
influence depressed him on landing ; but the instant 



3 2 6 THE ORNITHOLOGIST: 

and cordial recognition he met with from the active 
literary and scientific men abroad, soon confirmed his 
original resolution. Roscoe, "Wilson, Jeffrey, Brewster, 
Herschel, and Humboldt successfully advocated his 
claims, and cheered him with their personal friend- 
ship ; and, under such favourable auspices, his first 
contributions to ornithology appeared in Edinburgh. 
Indeed, notwithstanding the privations and difficulties 
he encountered, an unusual amount of sympathy and 
encouragement fell to the lot of Audubon. Compared 
with other votaries of a special object purely tasteful 
and scientific in its nature, he had little reason to 
coniplain. Of the one hundred and seventy subscribers 
of a thousand dollars each to his great work, eighty 
were his own countrymen; and his declining years 
were passed in independence and comfort in the midst 
of an affectionate and thriving family — the participants 
of his taste. His elasticity of temperament also was 
not less a distinction than a blessing ; it supported his 
wearisome and lonely wanderings both in search of 
birds in the forest and in search of encouragement 
among men ; and when the labour of years was de- 
stroyed, after a brief interval of mental anguish, it 
nerved him to renewed labour, so that in three years 
his portfolio was again filled. 

Born the same year that independence was declared 
by the Americans, his father an admiral in the French 
navy, and his birthplace Louisiana, he was early sent 
to France for his education, where he received lessons 



AUDUBON. 327 

in drawing from David, but pined the while for the 
free life and the wild forests of his country. On his 
return, his father gave him a beautiful plantation on 
the banks of the Schuylkill, and he married ; but 
neither agricultural interests nor domestic ties could 
quell the love of nature in his breast ; and for months 
he wandered in search of objects for his pencil, unsus- 
tained by any human being except his wife, who seems 
to have realized from the first the tendency and pro- 
mise of his mind. At length, in order to enjoy the 
opportunities he craved, and at the same time have 
the society of his family, Audubon determined to emi- 
grate, and selected the village of Henderson, in Ken- 
tucky, for his new home. In the autumn of 1810 he 
floated down the Ohio, in an open skiff, with his wife, 
child, and two negroes, his mattress, viands, and rifle, 
happy in the prospect of nearer and more undisturbed 
intercourse with nature, and intensely enjoying the 
pomp of the autumnal woods, the haze of the Indian 
summer, and the wildness and solitude around him. 
The locality chosen proved adequate to his aims ; day 
after day, with his dog, gun, and box of pencils and 
colours, he made excursions, now shooting down a 
fresh subject, now delineating its hues and form ; one 
moment peering into a nest, and at another scaling a 
cliff, for hours watching the conduct of a pair of birds 
as, unconscious that their doings were to be set in a 
note-book, they constructed a graceful nest, fed their 
young, or trilled a spontaneous melody ; over streams, 



328 THE ORNITHOLOGIST: 

through tangled brushwood, amid swamps and in stony 
ravines, beneath tempest, sunshine, and starlight — the 
indefatigable wanderer thus lived ; the wild beast, the 
treacherous Indian, the gentle moon, and the lowly 
wild flower sole witnesses of his curious labours. 

Audubon returned from Europe to prosecute his 
ornithological researches with fresh zest and assiduity ; 
and his first expedition was to the coast of Florida, 
where he made rich additions to his portfolio among 
the seafowl of that region. He afterwards successfully 
explored Maine, the British Provinces, and the ice-clad 
and desolate shores of Labrador. The most remarkable 
and happiest era of his life was, doubtless, that employed 
in collecting the materials, executing the pictures, and 
obtaining the subscribers to his " Birds of America:" 
his wanderings previously have the interest of adven- 
ture, and the charm derived from the indulgence of a 
passionate love of nature ; and his subsequent excur- 
sions and artistic labours, in behalf of the work on the 
" Quadrupeds of America," began in 1842, afford 
pleasing evidence of his loutissent taste and noble per- 
severance. But the period included by his ornitholo- 
gical enterprise is more characteristic and satisfactory. 
He had a great end in view, and the wildest forest and 
most unfrequented shores, the highest and most cul- 
tured sphere of society, and the most patient and 
delicate limning, were the means of its realization; 
and it is when contemplating him in this threefold re- 
lation that we learn to appreciate the mingled hardi- 



AUDUBON. 329 

hood, enthusiasm, firmness, and dignity so remarkably 
united in his character. In the woods, a genial com- 
panion, a single-hearted, kind, and generous friend, as 
well as a childlike enthusiast and manly sportsman; 
he stood before the council of an institution with his 
first delineation — the bald-headed eagle, or opened his 
portfolio to the inspection of an English nobleman in 
his lordly castle, with quiet self-possession, an inde- 
pendent air, and without exhibiting the least solicitude 
either for patronage or approbation. Arriving at a 
frontier village, after a tramp of months in the wilder- 
ness, his long beard, tattered leather dress, and keen 
eye, made him an object of idle wonder or impertinent 
gossip ; but none imagined that this grotesque hunter- 
artist enjoyed the honours of all the learned societies 
of Europe. His exultation at the discovery of a new 
species, and his satisfaction at the correct finish and 
elegant verisimilitude of a specimen, amply recompensed 
him for days of exposure or ill-success. On his journey 
from the South, he kept pace with the migration of 
the birds ; and he proclaimed the Washington sea- 
eagle to his country and the scientific world with the 
pride and delight of a conqueror. 

His passion for rambling caused Audubon to fail in 
several business enterprises he undertook ; and at one 
period he applied to Sully for instruction in portrait 
painting, but soon abandoned the idea. So faulty did 
Dawson, the engraver originally employed by the 
Prince of Musignano to illustrate ornithology, consider 



330 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

the early specimens of Audubon's skill as a draftsman, 
that he refused to execute them, and appeared to con- 
sider the pigments invented by the woodland artist as 
the most remarkable feature they presented. Although 
thus discouraged on every hand, we can readily believe 
his declaration, that he left America with profound 
regret, although his career abroad affords yet another 
striking evidence of that memorable and holy saying, 
" that a prophet is not without honour save in his own 
country." It is natural that a man who succeeded by 
virtue of toil and fortitude should repudiate the com- 
monly received faith in mere genius ; and we are not 
surprised that his settled view of the philosophy of 
life was patient self-reliance, and meditation on facts 
derived from personal observation, with unremitted 
habits of labour. To these resources he owed his own 
renown and achievements ; and his high-arched brow, 
dark-gray eye, and vivacious temperament marked him 
as fitted by nature to excel in action as well as 
thought — a destiny which his pursuits singularly 
realized. There was something bird-like in the very 
physiognomy of Audubon, in the shape and keenness 
of his eye, the aquiline form of the nose, and a certain 
piercing and vivid expression when animated. He 
was thoroughly himself only amid the freedom and 
exuberance of nature ; the breath of the woods exhi- 
larated and inspired him ; he was more at ease under 
a canopy of boughs than beneath gilded cornices, and 
felt a necessity to be within sight either of the horizon 



AUDUBOX. 331 

or the sea. Indeed, so prevailing was this appetite 
for nature, if we may so call it, that from the moment 
the idea of his last-projected expedition was abandoned 
— in accordance with the urgent remonstrances of his 
family, mindful of his advanced age — he began to 
droop, and the force and concentration of his intellect 
visibly declined. Both his success and his misfortunes, 
therefore, proved the wisdom of Richter's advice, to 
steadfastly and confidently follow the permanent in- 
stincts of character, however they may seem opposed 
to immediate interest. 

The style of Audubon reflects his character with 
unusual emphasis and truth. He was one of that 
class of men who united intellectual and physical 
activity in their natures so equally, that while their 
very temperament forbids them to be exclusively 
students, their intelligence demands a constant ac- 
cession of new ideas. Professor Wilson and Baron 
Humboldt belong to the same species. No one can 
glance over Audubon's Biography of Birds, without 
being struck with the unusual animation and reality 
of the style. He writes with an ease and enthusiasm 
that makes portions of his work quite as entertaining 
and far more suggestive than a felicitous novel. 
Instead of a formal nomenclature or pedantic descrip- 
tion, he digresses continually from the technical 
details which are requisite to the scientific value of 
his treatise, to charming episodes of personal adventure, 
sketches of local scenery and habits, and curious anec- 



332 THE ORNITHOLOGIST: 

dotes illustrative of natural history or human character. 
The titles of these incidental chapters adequately 
suggest their aim and interest, such as " Hospitality 
in the Woods," " Force of the "Waters," " The Squatters 
of Labrador," " Wreckers of Florida," " A Maple 
Sugar Camp," " A Ball in Newfoundland," " Break- 
ing up of the Sea," " Pitting of Wolves," " Long 
Calm at Sea," " A Kentucky Barbecue," &c. We 
are thus genially admitted to the knowledge of much 
that is characteristic and interesting, by spirited and 
graceful narratives. His artist's eye, and his sports- 
man's zest, give liveliness and a picturesque grace to 
the best of these interludes ; they relieve the monotony 
of mere description, and also impart an individuality 
to the entire work, by associating the positive informa- 
tion it conveys with the fortunes and feelings of the 
author. His habit of naming newly-discovered birds 
after his friends is another pleasing feature. Thus 
genially is our view of nature enlarged, the attractive- 
ness of romance given to a department of natural 
history, and one part of the world made perfectly 
acquainted with the feathered tribes of another. I 
need not enlarge upon the amenities resulting from 
pursuits of this kind, and their encouragement by 
individuals of taste and wealth, — of the innocent and 
available gratification thus extensively yielded, or of 
the more liberal and pleasing views resulting there- 
from. In a literary point of view, the style of Audubon, 
notwithstanding an almost unavoidable vein of egotism, 



AUDUBOX. 333 

— in its clearness, colloquial facility, and infectious 
enthusiasm, proves how much more effectively intimacy 
with nature develops even the power of expression 
than conformity to rules ; and vindicates completeness 
of life, animal and mental, as essential to true man- 
hood even in literature. 

This, in our view, is one of the most important 
lessons derived from such a career as that of Audubon 
philosophically considered. There is a cant of spi- 
ritualism, at the present day, which repudiates the 
vital relation of genius to material laws. In the view 
of this shallow philosophy to trace intellectual results 
in any degree to physical causes, is derogating from 
the essential beauty of mind. The class of persons 
who affect this extreme devotion to etherial systems, 
aim to sever body and soul while mutually alive, 
contemn physiology in their analysis of character, and 
recognise only the abstract in mental phenomena. 
This mode of reasoning is founded not less in irre- 
verence than error. The most truly beautiful and 
significant phases of intellect, fancy, moral sentiment, 
and all that is deemed spiritual in man, is born of its 
combination with the human. Indeed, the grand 
characteristic of life, considered in a metaphysical 
light, is that it is a condition which brings together 
and gives scope for the action and reaction of material 
influences on spiritual genius. The end is develop- 
ment, growth, and modification. As the rarest fruit 
owes it flavour and hues to qualities imbibed from 



334 THE ORNITHOLOGIST : 

earth and air, from rain and sunshine ; so what is 
called the soul is the product of the thinking and 
sensitive principle in our nature, warmed, enriched 
and quickened by the agency of an animal organism — 
the channel of nature, — by sensation, physical develop- 
ment, appetites, and sensations, as well as ideas. 

An author differs from other men only by the gift 
and habit of expression. This faculty — which for the 
ordinary purpose of convenience and pleasure, speech 
is only requisite — through genial cultivation redoubles 
its force, meaning, and beauty, and is capable of afford- 
ing a kind of permanent utterance to what is most- 
dear and important to man. It is obvious, therefore, 
that the more thoroughly an author's nature embraces 
the traits peculiar to manhood, the more efficient and 
satisfactory will his vocation be fulfilled. Hence the 
universal recognition of Shakspeare's supremacy in 
authorship ; it is because his range of expression 
included more of what is within and around life — 
more, in a word, of humanity — than any other single 
expositor. In general, authorship is partial, temporary, 
and its force lies in a special form. "Writers devoted 
to abstract truth, like Kant and Jonathan Edwards, 
are not to be included in the proposition, as their 
appeal is not to the sympathies, but to the pure 
intelligence of the race. But the authors who really 
affect the mass, and represent vividly the spirit of 
their age, are not less eminent for genuine human 
qualities — for prevailing traits of temperament ? 



AUDUBOX. 335 

appetite, and sensibility, than for superior reflective 
and imaginative gifts. It is, indeed, essential that 
they should possess the former in a high degree in 
order effectively to exhibit the latter. This is con- 
stantly illustrated in literature and art. "With a fancy 
that scarcely approached the idealism of Shelley, 
Burns thrilled the heart of his kind by virtue of an 
organization that humanized his genius. Landor is 
equipped with the lore of antiquity, and all the graces 
of classical diction to advocate his liberal opinions, yet 
while his elegant volumes adorn the libraries of scholars 
and men of taste, Dickens, comparatively ignorant and 
unrefined, by virtue of what may be called a more 
genial instinct, pleads for the oppressed in a million 
hearts. Jenny Lind sings many cavatinas with more 
precision and artistic power than Grisi ; but her voice, 
uncharged with the sensuous life whose vibration is 
inevitably sympathetic, does not so seize upon the nerves 
or quicken the blood. The element of sensation as 
related to sound, form, and ideas, is essential to popular 
literature. It is the peculiar characteristic of this 
department of art that it depends upon sympathy, 
which can only be awakened in large circles by address- 
ing the whole nature, by winning the senses as well 
as the mind, stirring the heart not less than eliciting 
the judgment, and, in a word, making itself felt in 
that universal human consciousness which, to dis- 
tinguish it alike from mere intellect or mere feeling, 
we call the soul. 



336 THE ORNITHOLOGIST ; 

The author who expects reception there, must write 
not only with his intelligence, his imagination, and his 
will, but with his temperament and his sensitive 
organism ; he must, in a degree, fuse perception and 
sensation, nervous energy and moral feeling, physical 
emotion and aerial fancy ; and then, at some point, he 
will be sure to touch the sympathy of others — not the 
scholar only, but the peasant. Accordingly I always 
find in the habits and idiosyncracies of popular authors 
a clue to their success. There is an analogy between 
their constitution and their writing. The tone of the 
latter is born of the man, and forms his personal dis- 
tinction as an author. Reasoning, rhetoric, and 
descriptive limning, considered as processes, do not 
differ according to the writer, they only vary in a 
certain spirit, manner, or, more properly, tone; and 
when we analyze this, we shall find it given out by the 
individual character — by the particular union of moral 
and physical qualities that make up the identity of the 
author, and not originating in a pure abstract and 
spiritual emanation. Par from diminishing, this but 
enhances the interest of authorship ; it renders it a 
great social fact, and a legitimate branch of human 
economy. It teaches us to regard authors as we 
regard men, by the light of character ; and from their 
human to deduce their literary peculiarities instead of 
the reverse, which is the method of superficial criticism. 

The popular basis of Audubon's renown, as well as 
the individuality of his taste as a naturalist, rests upon 



AUDUBON. 337 

artistic merit. I have alluded to the instinctive desire 
he so early manifested not only to observe, but to 
possess the beautiful denizens of the forest and the 
meadow ; and he candidly acknowledges that he was 
induced to take their portraits to console himself for 
not possessing the originals. Eude as were his first 
attempts to delineate birds, few portrait painters 
work in a more disinterested spirit : the motive was 
neither gain, nor hope of distinction, nor even scien- 
tific enthusiasm ; for when Wilson called at his place 
of business, these primitive sketches were produced 
as the results of leisure, and the work of an unskilled 
amateur. It is evident, therefore, that a genuine love 
of the occupation, and a desire to have authentic 
memorials of these objects of his enthusiastic admira- 
tion, Mas the original cause of his labours with crayon 
and pigments ; circumstances, an ardent temperament, 
and an earnest will gradually developed this sponta- 
neous tendency into a masterly artistic faculty ; he 
sketched, painted, and destroyed — copied, retouched, 
and improved, until he succeeded in representing per- 
fectly the forms, colours, attitudes, and expression of 
the feathered tribe. The life-size of these delineations, 
their wonderful accuracy, the beauty of their hues, and 
the animation of their aspect, instantly secured for the 
backwoodsman-artist universal praise ; but a minute 
inspection revealed yet higher claims : each plate, 
in fact, is an epitome of the natural history of the 
species depicted, — male and female, young and adidt, 



338 THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 

are grouped together, their plumage at different sea- 
sons, the vegetation they prefer, the soil, the food, 
sometimes the habits, and often the prey of each bird 
are thus indicated ; and we take in at a glance not only 
the figure, but the peculiarities of the genus. This com- 
pleteness of illustration — the result of vast study — 
united, as it is, with grace and brilliancy of execution, 
led the great naturalist of France to declare that 
our country had achieved a work unequalled in Europe. 
No lover of nature, whether poet or savant, can con- 
template these exquisite and vivid pictures in a foreign 
country, without delight and gratitude ; for, without 
any exertion on his part, they introduced him to an 
intimate acquaintance with the varied and numerous 
birds that haunt the woods, sky, and waters between 
Labrador and Florida, in hue, outline, and action as 
vivid and true as those of nature ; and their intrinsic 
value as memorials is enhanced by the consideration 
that a rapid disappearance of whole species of birds 
has been observed to attend the progress of civilization 
on this continent. 



THE HUMORIST: 
WASHINGTON IKVING. 

The similarity of the landscape in different portions 
of the country is often mentioned as a defect in our 
scenery ; but it has the advantage of constantly 
affording an epitome of nature and an identity of sug- 
gestion favourable to national associations. "Without 
the wild beauty of the Ohio or the luxuriant vegeta- 
tion of the Mississippi, the Hudson thus preserves a 
certain verisimilitude in the form of its banks, the 
windings of it channel, and the hills and trees along 
its shores, essentially American. The reflective ob- 
server can easily find in them characteristic features, 
and in the details of the panorama that meets his eye, 
even during a rapid transit, tokens of all that is pecu- 
liar and endeared in the condition and history of his 
native land ; and it is, therefore, not less gratifying to 
his sense of the appropriate than his feeling for the 
beautiful, that the home of our favourite author 
should consecrate the scene. To realize how the 



340 THE HUMORIST: 

Hudson thus identifies itself with national associations, 
while scanning the details we must bear in mind the 
general relations of the noble river — the great metro- 
polis towards which it speeds, with her forest of masts, 
interminable lines of building, lofty spires, crowded 
thoroughfares, and smoky canopy ; the isle-gemmed 
bay and adjacent ocean ; and then reverting to the 
chain of inland seas with which it is linked, and the 
junction of its greatest elevation with the vast range 
of the Alleghanies that intersect the boundless West, 
recall the intricate network of iron whereby the most 
distant village that nestles at their feet is connected 
with its picturesque shores. Thus regarded as a vital 
part of a sublime whole, an elemental feature, both 
geographical and political, of a magnificent continent, 
the Hudson fills the imagination with grandeur, while 
it fascinates the eye with loveliness. A few miles from 
the shores, and in many instances on the highest 
ranges of hills, gleam isolated lakes, fringed with 
woods and dotted with small islands, whence azalia 
blossoms and feathery shrubs overhang the water, 
which is pellucid as crystal, in summer decked with 
lilies, in winter affording inexhaustible quarries of ice, 
and, at all seasons, the most romantic haunts for the 
lover of nature. Nor is this comprehensive aspect 
confined to the river's natural adjuncts. The imme- 
diate localities are equally significant. On the Jersey 
shore, which meets the gaze at the very commence- 
ment of the upward voyage, are visible the grove 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 341 

where Hamilton fell, the most affecting incident in 
our political annals ; and the heights of Weehawken, 
celebrated by the spirited muse of Halleck ; soon, on 
the opposite shore, we descry the evergreen foliage of 
Trinity Church Cemetery, beneath which lie the re- 
mains of that brave explorer of the forest and lover of 
the winged tribes of the land — Audubon; now rise 
the Palisades — nearest landmarks of the bold stand 
first taken by the colonists against British oppression, 
where Fort Washington was captured by the Hessians 
in 1776 ; and whence the enemy's vessels of war were 
so adroitly frightened away by Talbot's fire-ship, and 
the most persecuted martyrs of the Revolution were 
borne to the infamous prison-ship at Long Island. 
This wonderful range of columnar rock, varying in 
height from fifty to five hundred feet, and extending 
along the river to the distance of twenty miles, rises 
perpendicular from the water, and the channel often 
runs immediately at its base. The gray, indented 
sides of this natural rampart, its summit tufted with 
thickets, and a few fishers' huts nestled at its foot, 
resembles the ancient walls of an impregnable for- 
tress ; here and there the traces of a wood-slide mark 
its weather-stained face ; and in the stillness of a 
winter day, when the frozen water collected in its 
apertures expands in the sunshine, from the other side 
of the river may be distinctly heard the clang of 
the falling trap-rock dissevered from the mass. Op- 
posite are seen the variegated hills and dales of 



342 THE HUMORIST: 

Winchester county. There let us pause, in the neigh- 
bourhood of our author's residence, to view the fami- 
liar scene amid which he lives. Gaze from beneath 
any of the numerous porticos that hospitably offer 
shelter on the hillsides and at the river's marge, 
breathe the pure air, contemplate the fresh tints of a 
June morning. It is one of those localities which 
Mature herself indicates as a byway haunt of the 
traveller, and a site for a home to the resident. In 
this vicinity the river expands to the width of two or 
three miles, forming what is called Tappan Bay — 
which, seen from the surrounding eminences, appears 
like an immense lake ; picturesque undulations limit 
the view, meadows covered with luxuriant grain that 
waves gracefully in the breeze, emerald with turf, dark 
with copses, or alive with tasselled maize, alternate with 
clumps of forest-trees or cheerful orchards ; over this 
scene of rural prosperity flit gorgeous clouds through 
a firmament of pale azure, and around it wind roads 
that seem to lure the spectator into the beautiful 
glens of the neighbouring valleys. Nearer to his eye 
are patches of woodland overhanging ravines, where 
rock, foliage, and stream combine to form a romantic 
and sequestered retreat, invaded by no sound but that 
of rustling leaf, chirping bird, humming insect, or 
snapping chestnut burr ; parallel with these delicious 
nooks that usually overhang the river, are fields in 
the highest state of cultivation, surrounding elegant 
mansions, with the usual gravel-walks, flower-beds, 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 343 

ornamental trees and neat lawns ; but farther inland 
stretch pastures where the mullein waves undisturbed, 
stone-walls and vagrant fences divide fallow acres, 
the sweet-briar clambering over their rugged surface, 
clumps of elder-bushes, or a few willows clustered 
about a pond, and the red cones of the sumac, dead 
leaves, brown mushrooms and downy thistles, mark 
one of those neglected yet wildly rural spots which 
Crabbe loved to describe. Even here, at the sunset 
hour, we have but to turn towards the river, at some 
elevated point, and a scene of indescribable beauty is 
exhibited. The placid water is tinted with amber, 
hues of transcendent brightness and combination glow 
along the western horizon, fleecy masses of vapour are 
illumined with exquisite shades of colour ; deep scin- 
tillations of rose or purple kindle the edges of the 
clouds ; the zenith wears a crystalline tone ; the 
vesper star twinkles with a bright though softened 
ray ; and the peace of heaven seems to descend upon 
the transparent wave and the balmy air. And if we 
observe the immediate scene around one of the 
humble red-roofed homesteads or superior dwellings 
which are scattered over the hillsides and valleys of 
this region, and call back the vision from its widest to 
the most narrow range, the eye is not less gratified 
nor the heart less moved by images of rustic comfort 
and beauty. Perhaps a large tulip-tree, with its 
broad expanse of verdure and waving chalices, or a 
superb chestnut, plumed with feathery blossoms, lends 



344 THE HUMORIST : 

its grateful shade, while we follow the darting swallow, 
watch the contented kine, or curiously note the hum- 
ming-bird poised, like a fragment of the rainbow, over 
a woodbine wreathed about the porch, and mark the 
drony bee clinging to the mealy stamen of the holy- 
hock, or murmuring on the pink globe of the clover. 
The odour of the hayfield, the glancing of countless 
white sails far below, the flitting of shadows and the 
refreshing breeze — all unite to form a picture of 
tranquil delight. Resuming our course, after such an 
interlude, we pass the scene of the gallant and unfor- 
tunate Andre's capture and execution, a bridge of the 
Croton aqueduct, one of the triumphs of our civiliza- 
tion, the smoke of iron-works — the token of the 
liberal enterprise of the country, or a splendid steam- 
vessel — the evidence of her mechanical genius. Stoney 
Point, where another fierce struggle for our liberties 
occurred, the site of the fortification being marked by 
a lighthouse, the towering Dunderberg mountain, and 
that lofty promontory called Anthony's Nose, where a 
sudden turn of the river in a western direction all at 
once ushers us into the glorious highlands, at the 
very point where, in 1777, the chain was stretched 
from one side to the other, as a barrier to the invader, 
and which the insufficient garrison were forced to sur- 
render to Sir Henry Clinton. The house once occu- 
pied by the traitor Arnold is soon forgotten in the 
thought of Kosciusko, whose monument rises on the 
precipitous bank at West Point — the only institution 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 345 

in the land which, insures a race of gentlemen ; and 
here the wild umbrage that covers Cro'nest recalls 
Drake's fanciful poem ; and old Port Putnam, crown- 
ing the highest of the majestic hills, seems waiting for 
the moonbeams to clothe its altitudinous ruins with 
enchantment ; Buttermilk Fall glimmers on one side, 
while the proud summit of the Grand Sachem towers on 
the other. Then opens the Bay of Xewburgh, a town 
memorable as the spot where the mutinous letters of the 
Revolution were dated, and where the head-quarters 
and parting scene of Washington and his officers are 
consecrated to endeared remembrance. Beyond appear 
the most beautifnl domains in the land, where broad 
ranges of meadow and groups of noble trees, in the 
highest state of order and fertility, transport us in 
fancy to the rural life of England. The last great 
feature of this matchless panorama is the Kaatskill 
Mountains rising in their misty shrouds, or, in a clear 
atmosphere, stretching away in magnificent propor- 
tions, whence the eye may wander for sixty miles over 
a country mapped by prolific acres, with every shade 
of verdure — sublimated, as it were, by interminable 
ranges of mountain, and animated by the silvery 
windings of the Hudson, whose gleaming tide lends 
brilliancy to the more dense hues of tree, field, and 
umbrageous headland. 

The navigable extent of the river, and the fresh 
tints of its water, banks, and sky, are in remarkable 
contrast with those celebrated transatlantic streams 



346 THE HUMORIST : 

endeared to our imaginations. To an American the 
first view of the Tiber and the Seine, their turbid 
waters and flat shores, occasions peculiar disappoint- 
ment; and it is the associations of the Rhine and 
Lake Como, and those features they derived from art, 
which chiefly give them superiority. The mellow 
light of the past and the charm of an historical name, 
invest the ruined castles and famed localities of their 
shores with an enduring interest ; and although a 
1 classic river, when swollen by the freshets of spring, 
according to Tasso, — 

"Pare che porta guerra e non tributo al mare," 

the grand scale and sylvan beauty of his native waters 
eloquently assent in the American's memory unri- 
valled natural attractions. In the spirit, therefore, of 
justifiable enthusiam not less than local attachment, 
does Irving, through honest Diedrich, thank G-od he 
was born on the banks of the Hudson ; for it possesses 
all the elements requisite to inspire the fancy and 
attach the heart. The blue waving line of its distant 
hills in the twilight of the early dawn ; the splendid 
hues of its surrounding foliage in autumn ; the glassy 
expanse of its broad surface, and the ermine drapery 
of its majestic promontories in winter ; the scene of 
verdant luxury it presents in summer; its sheltered 
nooks, pebbly coves, and rocky bluffs ; the echoes of 
the lofty highlands and the balmy hush of evening, 
when the saffron-tinted water reflects each passing 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 347 

sail, and the cry of the whip-poor-will or monotone of 
the katy-did, are the only sounds of life — all utter a 
mysterious appeal to the senses and imagination. 

Washington Irving, although so obviously adapted 
by natural endowments for the career in which he has 
acquired such eminence, was educated, like many other 
men of letters, for the legal profession ; he, however, 
early abandoned the idea of practice at the bar for the 
more lucrative vocation of a merchant. His brothers 
were established in business in the city of New York, 
and invited him to take an interest in their house, 
with the understanding that his literary tastes should 
be gratified by abundant leisure. The unfortunate 
crisis in mercantile aftairs, that followed the peace of 
1815, involved his family and threw him upon his own 
resources for subsistence. To this apparent disaster 
is owing his subsequent devotion to literature. The 
strong bias of his own idiosyncrasies, however, had 
already indicated this destiny ; his inaptitude for 
aftairs, his sensibility to the beautiful, his native 
humour and the love he early exhibited for wandering, 
observing, and indulging in day-dreams, would infal- 
libly have led him to record his fancies and feelings. 
Indeed, he had already done so with effect in a series 
of letters which appeared in a newspaper of which his 
brother was editor. His tendency to a free, medi- 
tative, and adventurous life, was confirmed by a visit 
to Europe in his early youth. Born in the city of 
New York on the 3rd of April, 1783, he pursued his 



348 THE HUMORIST : 

studies, his rambles, and his occasional pencraft there 
until 1804, when ill-health made it expedient for him 
to go abroad. He sailed for Bordeaux, and thence 
roamed over the most beautiful portions of Southern 
Europe, visited Switzerland and Holland, sojourned 
in Paris, and returned home in 1806. During his 
absence he seriously contemplated the profession of 
an artist, but subsequently resumed his law studies, 
and was admitted to the bar. Soon after, however, 
the first number of "Salmagundi" appeared, an era 
in our literary annals ; and in December, 1808, was 
published " Knickerbocker's History of New York." 
He afterwards edited the " Analectic Magazine." In 
the autumn of 1814 he joined the military staff of 
the Governor of New York, as aid-de-camp and 
secretary, with the title of colonel. At the close 
of the war he embarked for Liverpool, with a 
view of making a second tour in Europe ; but the 
financial troubles intervening, and the remarkable 
success which had attended his literary enterprises 
being an encouragement to pursue a vocation which 
necessity not less than taste now urged him to fol- 
low, he embarked in the career of authorship. The 
papers afterwards collected under the title of " The 
Sketch-Book," at once gained him the sympathy and 
admiration of his contemporaries. They originally ap- 
peared in New York, but attracted immediate atten- 
tion in England, and were republished there in 1820. 
After residing there five years, Mr. Irving again visited 



WASHINGTON IRVIXG. 349 

Paris, and returned to bring out " Bracebridge Hall," 
in London, in May, 1822. The next winter he passed 
in Dresden, and in the following spring put " Tales of 
a Traveller " to press. He soon after went to Madrid, 
and wrote the " Life of Columbus," which appeared in 
1828. In the spring of that year he visited the south 
of Spain, and the result was the " Chronicles of the 
Conquest of Granada," which was published in 1829. 
The same year he revisited that region and collected 
the materials for his " Alhambra." He was soon after 
appointed Secretary of Legation to the American Em- 
bassy in London, which office he held until the return 
of Mr. M'Lane, in 1831. While in England, he 
received one of the fifty-guinea gold medals provided 
by George IV., for eminence in historical composition, 
and the degree of LL.D. from the University of Ox- 
ford. His return to New York in 1832 was greeted 
by a festival, at which were gathered his surviving 
friends and all the illustrious men of his native metro- 
polis. The following summer he accompanied one of 
the Commissioners for removing the Indian tribes west 
of the Mississippi. The fruit of this excursion was 
his graphic " Tour on the Prairies." Soon after ap- 
peared " Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey" and 
" Legends of the Conquests of Spain." In 1836 he 
published " Astoria " and the " Adventures of Captain 
Bonneville." In 1839 he contributed several papers 
to the " Knickerbocker Magazine." Early in 1842 
he was appointed Minister to Spain. On his return 



350 THE HUMORIST : 

to this country in 1848, he began the publication of a 
revised edition of his works, to the list of which he has 
since added a " Life of Goldsmith" and " Mahomet 
and his Successors ;" and he is now engaged upon a 
" Life of Washington." This outline should be filled 
by the reader's imagination, with the accessories and 
the colouring incident to so varied, honourable, and 
congenial a life. In all his wanderings, his eye was 
busied with the scenes of nature, and cognizant of 
their every feature, his memory brooded over the tra- 
ditions of the past, and his heart caught and reflected 
every phase of humanity. With the feelings of a poet 
and the habitudes of an artist, he thus wandered over 
the rural districts of merry England, the melancholy 
hills of romantic Spain, and the exuberant wilderness 
of his native land, gathering up their most picturesque 
aspects and their most affecting legends, and transfer- 
ring them, with the pure and vivid colours of his 
genial expression, into permanent memorials. Every 
quaint outline, every mellowed tint, the aerial perspec- 
tive that leads the sight into the mazes of antiquity, 
the amusing still-life or characteristic human attri- 
butes, — all that excites wonder, sympathy, and merri- 
ment, he thus recognised and preserved, and shed over 
all the sunny atmosphere of a kindly heart and the 
freshness of a natural zest, and the attraction of a 
modest character, — a combination the result of which 
has been thus aptly described : — 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 351 

" What ! Irving? thrice welcome warm heart and fine brain, 
You bring back the happiest spirit from Spain, 
And the gravest sweet humour, that ever were there 
Since Cervantes met death in his gentle despair; 
Nay, don't be embarrassed, nor look so beseeching, 
I shan't run directly against my own preaching, 
And having just laughed at their Raphaels and Dantes, 
Go to setting you up beside matchless Cervantes ; 
But allow me to speak what I honestly feel, 
To a true poet-heart add the fun of Dick Steele, 
Throw in all of Addison, minus the chill, 
With the whole of that partnership's stock and goodwill, 
Mix well, and while stirring, hum o'er, as a spell, 
The 'fine old English Gentleman,' simmer it well. 
Sweeten just to your own private liking, then strain, 
That only the finest and clearest remain. 
Let it stand out of doors till a soul it receives 
From the warm lazy sim loitering down through green leaves, 
And you'll find a choice nature not wholly deserving 
A name either English or Yankee— just Irving." 

The eminent success which lias attended the late 
republication of Irving' s works, teaches a lesson of 
practical wisdom that we hope will not be lost on the 
cultivators of literature. It proves a truth which all 
men of enlightened taste intuitively feel, but which is 
constantly forgotten by perverse aspirants for literary 
fame : and that is — the permanent value of a direct, 
simple, and natural style. The attempt to wrest our 
vernacular into a foreign idiom, to startle the reader 
with unusual phrases, and to coin words for effect, are 
experiments which must inevitably fail of their desired 
object. It is undoubtedly true that individuality of 
style is characteristic of genius in all the arts, that 
of writing included; but it is not less true, that 



352 THE HUMORIST : 

fidelity to pure diction, the absolute laws of expres- 
sion, and to nature and simplicity, lies at the basis of 
all enduring triumphs. It is not only the genial phi- 
losophy, the humane spirit, the humour and pathos of 
Irving, which endear his writings and secure for them 
an habitual interest, but it is the refreshment afforded 
by a recurrence to the unalloyed, unaffected, clear, and 
flowing style in which he invariably expresses himself. 
We revert gladly to this as we do to the breathing of 
spring or the golden haze of autumn, by a principle of 
instinctive affinity. The theatrical and spasmodic 
method may for a time attract, just as a pyrotechnic 
display may engage our attention on a holiday even- 
ing ; and its casual splendour has the same relation to 
sunshine as artificial has to natural style in literature. 
The place which our author holds in national affec- 
tion can never be superseded. His name is indisso- 
lubly associated with the dawn of our recognised 
literary culture. We have always regarded his popu- 
larity in England as one of the most charming traits 
of his reputation, and that, too, for the very reasons 
which narrow critics once assigned as derogatory to 
his national spirit. His treatment of English sub- 
jects ; the felicitous manner in which he revealed the 
life of our ancestral land to us her prosperous off- 
spring, mingled as it was with vivid pictures of our 
own scenery, touched a chord in the heart which 
responds to all that is generous in sympathy and 
noble in association. If we regard Irving with na- 



WASHINGTON IRVIXG. 353 

tional pride and affection, it is partly on account of 
his cosmopolitan tone of mind — a quality, among 
others, in which he greatly resembles Goldsmith. It 
is, indeed, worthy of a true American writer, that, 
with his own country and a particular region thereof 
as a nucleus of his sentiment, he can see and feel the 
characteristic and the beautiful, not only in Old Eng- 
land but in romantic Spain; that the phlegmatic 
Dutchman and the mercurial southern European find 
an equal place in his comprehensive glance. To range 
from the local wit of Salmagundi to the grand and 
serious historical enterprise which achieved a classic 
" Life of Columbus," and from the simple grief em- 
balmed in the "Widow's Son," to the observant 
humour of the " Stout Gentleman," bespeaks not only 
an artist of exquisite and versatile skill, but a man of 
the most liberal heart and catholic taste. 

Eeputations, in their degree and kind, are as legiti- 
mate subjects of taste as less abstract things — and in 
that of "Washington Irving there is a completeness 
and unity seldom realized. It accords, in its un- 
challenged purity, with the harmonious character of 
the author and the serene attractions of his home. 
By temperament and cast of mind he was ordained to 
be a gentle minister at the altar of literature, an inter- 
preter of the latent music of nature and the redeeming 
affections of humanity ; and, with a consistency not 
less dictated by good sense than true feeling, he has 
instinctively adhered to the sphere he was specially 



354 THE HUMORIST: 

gifted to adorn. Since his advent as a writer, an in- 
tense style has come into vogue : glowing rhetoric, 
bold verbal tactics, and a more powerful exercise of 
thought, characterize many of the popular authors of 
the day ; but in literature as in life, there are various 
provinces both of utility and taste ; and in this 
country and age, a conservative tone, a reliance on 
the kindly emotions and the refined perceptions, are 
qualities eminently desirable. Therefore, as we look 
forth upon the calm and picturesque landscape that 
environs him, we are content that no fierce polemic, 
visionary philanthropist, or morbid sentimentalist has 
thus linked, his name with the tranquil beauties of 
the scene ; but that it is the home of an author who, 
with graceful diction and an affectionate heart, cele- 
brates the scenic charms of the outward world, and the 
harmless eccentricities and natural sentiment of his 
race. The true bias of Irving' s genius is artistic. 
The lights and shadows of English life, the legendary 
romance of Spain, the novelties of a tour on the Prairies 
of the west, and of adventures in the Bocky Mountains, 
the poetic beauty of the Alhambra, the memories of 
Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey, the quaint and com- 
fortable philosophy of the Dutch colonists, and the 
scenery of the Hudson, are themes upon which he 
expatiates with the grace and zest of a master. His 
a ffini ty of style with the classic British essayists served 
not only as an invaluable precedent in view of the crude 
mode of expression prevalent half a century ago among 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 355 

us, but also proved a bond in letters between our own 
country and England, by recalling the identity of lan- 
guage and domestic life at a time when great asperity 
of feeling divided the two countries. 

The circumstances of our daily life, and the impulse 
of our national destiny, amply insure the circulation 
of progressive and practical ideas ; but there is little 
in either to sustain a wholesome attachment to the 
past, or inspire disinterested feeling and imaginative 
recreation. Accordingly, we rejoice that our literary 
pioneer is not only an artist of the beautiful, but one 
whose pencil is dipped in the mellow tints of legendary 
lore, who infuses the element of reform and the spor- 
tiveness of fancy into his creations, and thus yields 
genuine refreshment and a needed lesson to the fevered 
minds of his countrymen. JSTo contrast, indeed, can 
be more entire than that between the Dutch passivity 
he loves to delineate, the indolent humour that gives 
such zest to his sketches, and the Yankee's enterprise 
which overlays the scene of his inventions. It is a 
juxtaposition of the dreamy and the wide-awake quite 
startling to the imagination ; and all the more delect- 
able from this relishing contrast is it to turn from the 
elaborate and showy arrangements of the monied 
citizen of to-day to one of our author's honest burghers, 
with his old-fashioned domicile " built of small yellow 
bricks brought from Holland, having latticed windows 
and gable fronts, surmounted with weathercocks," 
and there learn how " love is translated into Low 



356 THE HUMORIST : 

Dutch." Of all his immortal Flemish pictures, how- 
ever, the most precious to his countrymen is that 
which contains the house of old Baltus Tan Tassell, 
especially since it has been refitted and ornamented 
by Geoffrey Crayon; and pleasant as it is to their 
imagination as Wolf erf s Roost, it is far more dear to 
their hearts as Sunny side. 

Local fame is a beautiful prerogative of genius ; it 
sets apart and renders memorable regions which 
otherwise, however adorned by nature, would be de- 
void of human inspiration; it consecrates to medita- 
tion, and enshrines in the heart, the stream, mountain, 
or plain, to which the intelligent lover of his race, age 
after age, directs his pilgrimage : it seems to wed hu- 
manity to the universe, and elevate material objects 
into witnesses of the soul's immortality; and when 
the attractive in creation thus blends with the thought 
of intellectual behests, the observer becomes conscious 
of elevated sympathies. This is true even when a 
spot is only endeared as the place of birth or sepul- 
ture of the gifted and the brave ; but such ideas are 
infinitely confirmed, and the sentiment they awaken 
deepened, when the offspring of the mind itself lends 
a permanent interest to the scene, and arrays it with 
the graces of fancy, humour, or sentiment. Thus ma- 
gical to the eye appear the lakes of Cumberland, 
where the bard of Eydal Blount held philosophic and 
tender communion with visible things, and through 
them obtained spiritual insight; thus, even in the 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 357 

comparatively pale light of science, the little town of 
Shelborne greets the traveller's gaze, since its natural 
history has been made familiar by the suggestive re- 
cord of one of its inhabitants ; thus the old haunts of 
multitudinous London impress us, in the hour of 
reverie, mellowed into quaint and winsome hues by 
the cherished reminiscences of Lamb ; even the un- 
adventurous life of the sequestered English village be- 
comes redolent of sweet meaning when Miss Mitford 
is our guide; and the humble green of Lissoy is 
peopled by the household muse of Goldsmith, with 
characters that have been favourites from childhood, 
and are stamped on the heart with his own well- 
beloved name. And thus is the noble Hudson asso- 
ciated with Irving. As we follow its verdant and 
rocky marge, whirled along the banks by the panting 
engine, or borne upon the waters by the rapid steamer 
or wayward skiff, we trace the path so long ago fol- 
lowed by the redoubtable Stuyvesant or the scape- 
grace Dolph Huyliger and his aboriginal comrades. 
The same umbrageous inlets, precipitous rocks, and 
sylvan landmarks, meet the eye; the slow-wheeling 
eagle may yet be seen, at rare intervals, to launch 
proudly into the air from a dead bough on the loftiest 
bluffs, and a sturgeon to leap up from the flowing 
tide ; and although, on every side, wide and long 
vistas are opened in the once impenetrable woods, 
fleets of tall sails cover the once lonely stream, and 
countless villas and farmhouses are visible through 



358 the humorist: 

the trees, yet, in essential natural features, we recog- 
nise the picture of Irving. The face of the precipice 
is as inaccessible as when the smoke of the wigwam 
curled from its dizzy height; and the inlet as sha- 
dowy as when the canoe of the savage lightly grated 
over its pebbles. The alternations from sloping 
marge to frowning crag are as impressive as when 
they glided by the hunters and fur-traders of old. 
The thunder rumbles among the hills as it did when 
the grey Dutchmen were playing at bowls; and the 
cabbage, pumpkin, and wheat-fields, that excited the 
epicurean imagination of Ichabod Crane, annually dis- 
play their redundant crops. Rip Yan "Winkle's 
prospect* of another nap is, however, sadly marred by 
the commotion and noise incident to a more populous 
country and the scream of the locomotive. But with 
the unchangeable aspect of the river itself, and the 
inland landscape, are permanently associated the hu- 
morous and descriptive felicity of Irving. There, in 
America, did the pen of genius first give a local ha- 
bitation and a name to the emanations of fancy, and 
twine the brow of primeval nature with the enchanted 
halo of art. 

And the legends which he has so gracefully woven 
around every striking point in the scene, readily 
assimilate with its character, whether they breathe 
grotesque humour, harmless superstition, or pensive 
sentiment. We smile habitually, and with the same 
zest, at the idea of the Trumpeter's rubicund proboscis, 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 359 

the valiant defence of Beam Island, and the figure 
which the pedagogue cuts on the dorsal ridge of old 
Gunpowder ; and, inhaling the magnetic atmosphere 
of Sleepy Hollow, we easily give credit to the appa- 
rition of the Headless Horseman, and have no desire 
to repudiate the frisking imps of the Duyvel's Dans 
Kamer. The buxom charms of Katrina Vantassel, 
and the substantial comforts of her paternal farm- 
house, are as tempting to us as they once were to 
the unfortunate Ichabod and the successful Brom 
Bones. , 

The mansion of this prosperous and valiant family, 
so often celebrated in his writings, is the residence of 
"Washington Irving. It is approached by a seques- 
tered road, which enhances the eiFect of its natural 
beauty. A more tranquil and protected abode, 
nestled in the lap of nature, never captivated a poet's 
eye. Eising from the bank of the river, which a strip 
of woodland alone intercepts, it unites every rural 
charm to the most complete seclusion. From this 
interesting domain is visible the broad surface of the 
Toppan Zee ; the grounds slope to the water's edge, 
and are bordered by wooded ravines ; a clear brook 
ripples near, and several neat paths lead to shadowy 
walks or fine points of river scenery. The house 
itself is a graceful combination of the English cottage 
and the Dutch farmhouse. The crow-stepped gables, 
the tiles in the hall, and the weathercocks, partake of 
the latter character ; while the white walls gleaming 



360 the humorist: 

through the trees, the smooth and verdant turf, and 
the mantling vines of ivy and clambering roses, 
suggest the former. Indeed, in this delightful home- 
stead are tokens of all that is most characteristic of 
its owner. The simplicity and rustic grace of the 
abode indicate an unperverted taste, — its secluded 
position a love of retirement ; the cottage ornaments 
remind us of his unrivalled pictures of English 
country life; one weathercock used to veer about 
on the Stadthouse of Amsterdam, and, therefore, is a 
symbol of the fatherland ; while the other adorned one 
of the grand dwellings in Albany before the Bevolu- 
tion, and is a significant memorial of the old Dutch 
colonists ; and they are thus both associated with the 
fragrant memory of that famous and unique historian 
Diedrich Knickerbocker. The quaint and the beau- 
tiful are thus blended, and the effect of the whole is 
singularly harmonious. From the quietude of this 
retreat are obtainable the most extensive prospects ; 
and while its sheltered position breathes the very air 
of domestic repose, the scenery it commands is elo- 
quent of broad and generous sympathies. 

Not less rare than beautiful is the lot of the author, 
to whom it is permitted to gather up the memorials of 
his fame and witness their permanent recognition : — 
the first partial favour of his contemporaries renewed 
by the mature appreciation of another generation ; and 
equally gratifying is the coincidence of such a noble 
satisfaction with a return to the cherished and pictu- 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 361 

resque haunts of childhood and youth. It is a phase of 
life scarcely less delightful to contemplate than to en- 
joy ; and we agree with a native artist who declared that 
in his many trips up and down the Hudson, he never 
passed Sunnyside without a thrill of pleasure. Sov, 
if thus interesting even as an object in the landscape, 
is it difficult to imagine what moral attractions it pos- 
sesses to the kindred and friends who there habitually 
enjoy such genial companionship and frank hospitality. 
To this favoured spot, around which his fondest remi- 
niscences hovered during a long absence, Mr. Irving 
returned, a few years since, crowned with the purest 
literary renown, and as much attached to his native 
scenery as when he wandered there in the holiday 
reveries of boyhood. And here, in the midst of a land- 
scape his pen has made attractive in both hemispheres, 
and of friends whose love surpasses the highest meed 
of fame, he lives in daily view of scenes thrice endeared 
— by taste, association, and habit ; — the old locust that 
blossoms on the green bank in spring, the brook that 
sparkles along the grass, the peaked turret, and vine- 
covered wall of that modest yet traditional dwelling, 
the favourite valley watered by the romantic Pocan- 
toro, and, above all, the glorious river of his heart. 



THE POPULAE POET: 

THOMAS CAMPBELL. 

"When Burns was on his deathbed, he said to a 
fellow-member of his military corps, " Don't let the 
awkward squad fire over me." There is an awkward 
squad in the ranks of all professions, and most 
earnestly is their service to be deprecated on any 
occasion calling for solemnity or tenderness. Then 
we demand what is graceful, harmonious, and efficient. 
Yet it is the constant fate of genius to be tried by 
other arbiters than its peers, to be profaned by idle 
Curiosity and malignant gossip. The "awkward 
squad " in literature not only fire over the graves of 
poets, but are wont to discharge annoying batteries of 
squibs at them while living. The penny-a-liners scent 
a celebrity afar off and hunt it with the pertinacity 
of hounds ; they flock in at the death like a brood of 
vultures ; and often, without the ability either to 
sympathise with or to respect the real claims they 
pretend to honour, show up the foibles, mutilate the 



THE POPULAR POET. 363 

sayings, and fabricate the doings of those whose 
unostentatious private lives, to say nothing of the 
dignity of their public fame, should protect them from 
microscopic observation and vulgar comment. 

No modern English poet has suffered more from 
this kind of notoriety than Campbell. Unlike his 
brother bards, he neither sought rural seclusion nor 
foreign exile, but continued to haunt cities to the 
last ; and it is refreshing to turn from the hackneyed 
sketches of him in the magazines to his own letters 
and the history of his early career, just published, and 
revive our best impressions of his character. To do 
this we must discard what is irrevelant and contem- 
plate the essential. The only demand we have any 
moral right to make upon the bard who has enlisted 
our heart by his song, is that there exist in his 
actions and tone of feeling a spirit consistent with 
the sentiments deliberately advocated in his verse. 
There is no reason whatever to expect in him 
immunity from error ; we are irrational to look for a 
beauty of feature, a majesty of life, and an evenness of 
temper corresponding with the ideal created by the 
finish and exaltation of his poetry ; but if baseness 
deface the behaviour, and indifference chill the inter- 
course of him who has eloquently breathed into the 
ear of the world noble and glowing emotion, we are 
justified in feeling not only disappointment, but 
almost scepticism as to the reality of these divine 
sympathies. Such we do not believe possible in the 



364 THE POPULAR POET : 

nature of things. In spite of what is so often 
asserted of the discrepancy between authorship and 
character — literary biography demonstrates that " as 
a man thinketh so he is." 

Milton and Dante, Goldsmith and Petrarch, were 
essentially what their works proclaim them, although 
the former occasionally exhibited asceticism, which is 
the extreme of that genius whose characteristic is 
will, and the latter sometimes displayed the weakness 
that, in our human frailty, attaches to the genius 
whose main principle is love. A touch of pedantry 
and hardihood slightly deform the images of those 
august spirits that explored the unseen world, as 
vanity and self-indulgence mar the serene beauty 
of the gentler minstrels who sung of the tender 
passion and the charms of domestic life ; were it 
otherwise they would eclipse instead of representing 
humanity. There is a process of metropolitan de- 
cadence to which literary celebrities are liable, 
especially in London, for which we, whose privilege it 
is to look upon them over the grand perspective of the 
sea, should make just allowance. The most absurd 
whim of modern society is that of making what are 
called lions of authors, and especially of poets. No 
class of men appear to less advantage in a conven- 
tional position ; and no two principles can be more 
radically adverse than that of mutual agreeableness, 
conformity, and display, of which society technically 
considered is the arena, and the spirit of earnestness, 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 365 

nature, and freedom, characteristic of poets, Idolized 
as they usually are, and with good reason, in the 
domestic circle and among intimate friends, the very 
qualities which are there elicited, general society 
keeps in abeyance ; tact is the desideratum in the 
latter as truth is in the former; and though some- 
times the natural dignity and manliness of genius 
successfully asserts itself in the face of pretence for- 
tified by etiquette, as in the case of Burns at 
Edinburgh, the exception is too memorable not to 
have been rare. The consequence of this want of 
relation between the spirit of society and the poetic 
character, is that a formal homage is paid its represent- 
atives on their first appearance, which, at length, 
becomes wearisome to both parties ; and if the time- 
honoured guest has not the wisdom to anticipate his 
social decay and withdraw into honourable retirement, 
those upon whose memories the prestige of his 
original reputation does not rest, are apt to fail in 
that recognition which habit has made almost un- 
necessary to his self-respect. 

The admirers of dramatic and musical genius keenly 
regret the reappearance of the favourites of their 
youth in public, only to awaken the unfeeling curiosity 
of a new generation; and somewhat of the same melan- 
choly attaches to the prolonged social exhibition of a 
man whose verse has rendered his name sacred to our 
associations and remembrance. That familiarity which 
breeds contempt denies the original glory of his pre- 



366 THE POPULAR POET : 

sence. The name freely bandied at the feast comes to 
be repeated with less reverence at the fireside ; the 
voice, vrhose lowest accent was once caught with 
breathless interest, is suffered to lose itself in the hum 
of commonplace table-talk ; and the brow to which 
every eye used to turn with sympathetic wonder, seems 
no longer to wear the mysterious halo with which love 
and fancy crown the priests of nature. And usually 
the victim of this gradual disenchantment is quite un- 
conscious of the change, until suddenly aroused to its 
reality. Aware of no blight upon his tree of promise, 
inspired by the same feelings that warmed his youth, 
wedded to the same tastes, and loyal to the same 
sentiments, with a kind of childlike trustfulness he 
reposes upon his own identity, and is slow to believe 
in the precarious tenure upon which merely social 
distinction is held. To a reverent and generous spec- 
tator this is one of those scenes in the drama of life, 
which is the more affecting because so few look upon 
it with interest. We sigh at the fragility of personal 
renown, and pity the weakness that seems doomed to 
"make idols and to find them clay." Then how 
enviable appear those who " are gathered to the kings 
of thought far in the unapparent" — the young poet 
who died in the freshness of his life, and the aged 
bard who seasonably retreated to the sequestered 
haunts of nature, and breathed his last far from the 
busy world where the echo of his fame yet lingered ! 
We are chiefly pained, in the opposite case, at the 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 367 

difficulty of associating the author with his works, 
the written sentiment with the ordinary talk, the poet 
with the man, when we thus are brought into habitual 
contact with the social effigy of genius ; we are more 
mortified at the inconsistency of feeling which leads 
men to guard and cherish an architectural fragment, 
and yet interpose no wise and charitable hand to pre- 
serve from sacrilege " Creation's master-piece — the 
poet soul," — which expends such hero-worship upon 
the distant and the dead, but holds up no shield 
between the greatness at its side, and the indifferent 
or perhaps malicious gaze of the world. Modern 
philanthropy has furnished asylums for almost all the 
physical and moral ills to which flesh is heir ; but the 
award of celebrity apparently cancels the obligations 
of society towards the gifted ; if improvident, as is 
usually the case, poverty and neglect are often their 
lot in age ; and if prosperous in circumstances, but 
bereft of near and genial ties, they are homeless, and 
consequently reckless. 

Instances of private sensibility to claims like these, 
not only felt but realized with beautiful zeal, are 
indeed recorded to the honour of our common nature : 
and such benefactors as Mrs. Unwin, the friend of 
Cowper, and the Grilmans, at whose house Coleridge 
died, will live in honour when more ostentatious 
almoners are forgotten. Let us congratulate ourselves 
that we are not among the witnesses of the social 
decadence of our favourite English authors. Freshly 



368 THE POPULAR POET I 

to us yet beams their morning fame ; we know them 
only through their works, and death has but canonized 
what love had endeared. There is no dreary interlude 
between the glorious overture and the solemn finale. 
Their garlands to our vision press unwithered brows. 
The music of their names has never lost its spirit- 
stirring cadence ; when uttered, memorable and 
eloquent passages recur, as "at the touch of an 
enchanter's wand." "We think of Byron as he de- 
scribes himself in his romantic pilgrimages, not as he 
appeared at Holland House and Drury. Shelley's 
memory is undimmed by the air of a Chancery court, 
and remains as lofty, pure, and ethereal as his funeral 
pyre ; and Burns, thank heaven, we never saw per- 
forming excise duties. But of all the modern poets of 
Great Britain, the one whose memory we could have 
least suffered to be desecrated was Campbell ; and we 
rejoice to have known him as the bard of Hope and 
not as Tom Campbell, especially as his correspondence 
exhibits his eminent title to poetical character as well 
as talent, and repudiates the shallow gossip which drew 
such superficial portraits traits of him in later years. 

"We find, in these letters, that Campbell the man 
was worthy of Campbell the poet; and that the 
ideal we had cherished of the author of Gertrude and 
Hohenlinden was essentially true to nature. The 
manner in which he has been dealt with, even by 
literary men, and especially by social detractors, ia 
only another illustration of the humiliating truth 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 369 

that " Folly loves the martyrdom of Fame." Our 
view of the character of distinguished persons is 
threefold — that derived from the deeds or writings 
upon which their fame rests, the report of con- 
temporaries, and their own memoirs and letters. 
Between the two latter there is usually some essential 
harmony, but the intermediate link in the chain of 
evidence seldom coincides Avith either. The decease 
of a renowned person is followed by the publication 
of his life, and recently it has been the wise and just 
custom to rely as far as possible on the testimony 
of the subject rather than the opinions of the bio- 
grapher. 

The result is, that the misrepresentations and 
partial glimpses afforded by rumour and ambitious 
scribblers give way before the direct and authentic 
revelation of facts and personal correspondence, and 
we enjoy the high satisfaction of reconciling the man 
and the author ; and the assurance that the sentiment 
and tone which originally endeared to us the one 
were truly embodied in the other. How different is 
the view now cherished of Burns, Byron, Keats and 
Lamb, from that prevalent before we were fully ad- 
mitted to a knowledge of their trials, habits, tempt- 
ations and ways of feeling and acting, by the record 
of sorrowing friends and the appearance of their 
familiar and confidential letters ! In consideration of 
the inveterate tendency to exaggerate and distort 
the simple facts of a marked career, it would seem 

2b 



370 THE POPULAR POET : 

not only excusable but requisite for those who have 
won the peculiar sympathy or admiration of the world, 
to write an autobiography. Such a work, undertaken 
in the spirit and executed with the frank goodnature 
that belong to those of Cellini, Alfieri, Groldoni, and 
we may add, as a recent instance, Leigh Hunt, is a 
better portrait to bequeath than the formal and in- 
complete lives too often substituted by the zeal of 
friendship or the enterprise of authors. 

Next to a good autobiography, however, the best 
service that can be rendered departed genius, is to 
bring together and unite by an intelligent and 
genuine narrative such personal memorials as most 
clearly represent the man as he was. However 
unambitious, the task is one of sacred responsibility, 
due not less to the enthusiasm which cherishes, than to 
the gifts that hallow, posthumous renown. We can 
then trace the elements of character as developed in 
boyhood, estimate the influence of education and 
circumstances, and recognize the domestic and social 
life of those whose personal reputation may have 
appeared incongruous with their permanent fame, — 
thus realizing the process of the principle of their 
eminence. It is not eulogy that we require ; that, if 
deserved, is apparent in the deeds or words that have 
become a passport to glory ; it is facts, sentiments, 
familiar illustrations whereby to judge for ourselves of 
the man whose name is indissolubly associated in our 
minds with the inspiration of heroism and poetry. 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 371 

The characters of a poet and a man of letters are so 
often blended in literary memoirs, as to appear 
identical, but their distinctness in nature is marked 
by inevitable traits. Seldom has the difference 
between the two been more clearly indicated than in 
the biography of Campbell ; and the illustration is 
more emphatic from the fact that we are admitted to 
his experience and opinions through familiar cor- 
respondence. 

The grand peculiarity of the poetic nature is faith 
in sentiment of some kind, obedience to its in- 
spiration, delight in its utterance, and loyalty to its 
dictates. Neither time, nor interest, nor logic suffice 
to exhaust or modify this vital principle. Where it 
fails to triumph over these, it is evidently inadequate 
to justify the title of bard, minstrel, poet, or whatever 
name we apply to those upon whose minds its in- 
fluence is pervading and instinctive. To infos 
life of his own spirit, the glow of his personal emotion, 
into thought and language, is the characteristic of the 
poet. His words differ from those of other men 
chiefly by virtue of a magnetic quality. They appeal 
to consciousness rather than memory, to the entire 
soul instead of the exclusive intellect. Hence they 
have power to stir the blood, linger on the ear, excite 
the imagination, and warm the heart. On the other 
hand, the man of letters can only grasp the tech- 
nicalities of the art and wield the machinery of verse. 
As youth decays, as circumstances alter, as public 



372 THE POPULAR POET : 

taste varies, the entlmsiam which, at first, gave a 
temporary fire to his rhythmical writing, is subdued 
to such a degree as to render his so-called muse a very 
flexible and hackneyed creature — the mere effigy of 
what she once promised to be. The genuine poet, on 
the contrary, strives in vain to reconcile himself to 
the mechanical drudgery of the pen, is coy of an art 
whose real excellence he has too keenly felt to be 
satisfied with any "counterfeit presentment;" and 
lives on wedded by an eternal a ffini ty to the love of 
his youth, although he may have outgrown all relation 
to it but that of veneration and remembrance. The 
few gems of the latter outlive the mines opened by 
the former; scintillations of lyric fire radiated from 
an earnest heart, and generated by its native warmth, 
beam on like stars in the firmament ; while the 
elaborate productions of tasteful and learned industry 
" fade into the light of common day." Only a 
felicitous passage — a theme accidentally enlivened by 
an impulse from individual life, redeems the ingenious 
and diffuse metrical composition from oblivion; but 
the spontaneous product of an inspired mind becomes 
a household and a national treasure. 

Campbell's early life gave promise of this healthful 
endowment of the poetic faculty. He was a devoted 
student, and although constantly bearing off prizes, 
won and retained the love of his companions. They 
once owed a holiday to his rhymed petition, and such 
instances of the loving exercise of his talents were of 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 373 

frequent occurrence. His success at college was 
eminent in Greek ; and the temperament of genius 
was evinced in the extreme alternation of his moods. 
Although often in high spirits, when his feelings be- 
came enlisted gravity ensued. He made the most 
obvious progress both in facility and power of ex- 
pression, as we perceive by the gradual improvement 
in the style of his letters and occasional verses. But 
the most satisfactory indication of his poetical gifts we 
find in the ardour, constancy, and generous faith of 
his sentiments. In friendship, domestic intercourse, 
literary taste, and the observation of nature, there was 
evident, from the first, an enthusiasm and sensibility 
which gave the fairest promise as they brought him 
into vital relation with these sources of moral ami 
sentient experience. 

The early correspondence of few poets has a more 
truthful charm and graceful warmth. It reveals his 
heart and confirms the tenor of his poems. His visits 
to the Highlands — a residence of some months in 
Germany, and the study of the literature of the latter 
country, with the society of Edinburgh, all combined, 
at this most susceptible and enthusiastic period, to 
inform, excite, and chasten his mind. Thus enriched 
and disciplined — with the most limited pecuniary re- 
sources — and the greatest uncertainty as to what 
career he should adopt, the young poet was singularly 
exposed to the impressions of a period, when even the 
insensible and unenlightened were aroused to interest 



374 THE POPULAR POET : 

in public affairs, the welfare of society, and the pro- 
gress of mankind. It was an epoch of war and of 
philanthropy, of revolntion and experiment, of the 
most infernal tyranny and the noblest self-devotion. 
The overthrow of slavery was then first agitated ; 
Poland and Greece heroically struggled, and the mar- 
tyrdom of the former was achieved. The elements of 
civil society were deeply moved; the cause of truth 
and liberty inspired fresh championship, and the 
wrongs of humanity made themselves felt. At this 
time he meditated emigrating to this country, where 
one of his brothers was already established. It is a 
curious fact that several of the distinguished modern 
poets of England — among them Coleridge, Southey, 
and Keats— entertained similar views ; and it is an 
equally curious speculation to imagine how such a 
course would have modified their writings and des- 
tiny. Campbell, also, with true poetical consistency, 
recoiled from the professions and commerce ; and thus 
by the force of circumstances, as well as the prompt- 
ings of genius, seemed destined for a literary life. 
This vague purpose was confirmed by the unprece- 
dented success of his first poem. There is no instance, 
perhaps, in the annals of literature, of so instantaneous 
and complete a recognition of the advent of a poet as 
followed the appearance of the " Pleasures of Hope." 
It introduced him at once to fame and society ; and it 
did this by virtue of the eloquent utterance it gave to 
feelings that then latently glowed in every noble 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 375 

heart. Like a bugle whose echoes speak the morning 
cheer that exhilarates the frame of the newly-roused 
hunter, it caught up, rendered musical and prolonged 
the strains of pity, hope, and faith, rife, though seldom 
audible, in the world. 

It is essential to poetry of this nature that the 
sensibilities should be acted upon by some actual scene, 
person, or event ; and accordingly we find that every 
successful composition of Campbell has a personal 
basis ; to this, indeed, we may ascribe that spirit of 
reality which constitutes the distinction between 
forced and spontaneous verse ; his muse, when herself, 
is awake, magnetic, and spirited ; the sense of beauty, 
or the enthusiasm of love and freedom, being naturally 
excited, utter themselves in fervid strains. Thus the 
apostrophe to Poland, and the protest against scepti- 
cism, the appeal to the disappointed lover, the de- 
scription of mutual happiness — and, in fact, all the 
animated episodes in the "Pleasures of Hope, "grew di- 
rectly out of the events of the day or the immediate 
experience of the poet. " Lochiel's Warning " em- 
bodies a traditionary vein of local feeling derived from 
the land of his nativity ; the " Exile of Erin " conse- 
crates the woes of a poor fellow with whom he sympa- 
thised on the banks of the Elbe ; the " Beech Tree's 
Petition " was suggested by an interview with two 
ladies in the garden where it grew ; the " Lines on a 
Scene in Bavaria" are a literal transcript from memory ; 
"Ye Mariners of England" expresses feelings awak- 



376 THE POPULAR POET : 

ened by the poet's own escape from a privateer. It 
is a singular coincidence that the draft of this famous 
naval ode was found among his papers, seized on his 
return from Germany on the suspicion that his visit 
had a treasonable design. In the freshness of youth 
he witnessed a battle, a retreat, and the field upon 
which the night-camp of an army was pitched ; and 
the vivid emotions thus induced, he eloquently breathed 
in " Hohenlinden" and the " Soldier's Dream." His 
dramatic tastes are finely reflected in the address to 
John Keinble, and his classical in the ode to the Greeks. 
"We also trace the relation between the very nature of 
the man and whatever appealed to the sense of the 
heroic or the beautiful in his letters. The State Trials 
excited his deepest youthful sympathy ; it is natural 
that to him the memorable experience of life was to 
hear Neukomm play the organ and stand with Mrs. 
Siddons before the Apollo Belvidere. The " Turkish 
Lady " was written while his mind was full of a project 
to visit the East; and his subsequent intention of 
joining his brother in America, with wmom he kept up 
a regular correspondence, accounts for his choice of 
" The Valley of "Wyoming " as the scene of Gertrude. 
A critic whose taste and organization fit him to seize 
upon the vital spirit of works of genius, says that in 
this poem there is " the best got-up bridal " in the 
whole range of English poetry. The zest and truthful 
beauty of the description is drawn from the bard's own 
experience of the conjugal sentiment. His biographer 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 377 

describes Miss Sinclair, who became his wife, as one 
of those women who unite great vivacity of tempera- 
ment with a latent tenderness and melancholy — the 
very beings to captivate permanently a man at once 
ardent and tasteful, like Campbell. 

Even his defects point to the same impressible 
temper ; quickly aroused to anger, of which several 
curious instances occur in his memoirs, he as quickly 
yielded to the reaction of generous and candid 
feeling: the transition was as childlike as it was 
sincere, and in perfect accordance with the poetical 
character. The same is true of his alternate relish 
of severe intellectual labour and the most luxurious 
self-indulgence. Campbell by nature was a patriot 
and a philanthropist, a lover and a friend, an enthu- 
siast and a scholar ; impulsive and fastidious at the 
same time — generous and vain by turns, with sen- 
sibility and culture, now fagging and now soaring ; 
and thus constituted, we may imagine the effect upon 
him of being doomed to write in the prime of his 
life — "my son is mad, my wife dead, and my harp 
unstrung." Yet, like nearly all the gifted men of 
his age, he was so singularly blessed with social 
privileges, that we are forcibly reminded of Scott's 
declaration that these constituted his real obligations 
to literature. In the course of Campbell's letters, 
we find him at dfferent periods enjoying the society 
first of Dr. Burney, Mrs. Inchbald, Dr. Gregory, 
Dugald Stewart, and the leading spirits of the past 



378 THE POPULAK POET : 

century — then of Klop stock, Schlegel and Humboldt ; 
and on his return from his first continental visit, of 
Currie, Roscoe, Sydney Smith, Mackintosh, Rogers, 
and the habitues of Holland House in its palmy 
days — while Madame de Stael, Mrs. Siddons, Scott, 
and the last bright galaxy of British writers were 
familiar associates. 

In regard to the form of Campbell's poetry, we 
are immediately struck with his delicate and true 
feeling for the harmony of language ; he knew instinc- 
tively how to follow Pope's rule, and cause the sound 
to be an echo to the sense. When a boy he expressed 
keen disappointment at not being able to make a lady 
appreciate the meaning of Homer by the sound of 
celebrated passages. We know of few specimens of 
English verse comparable to the best of Campbell's 
for effective rhythm ; contrast the spirit-stirring flow of 
the song of the Greeks with the organ-like cadence 
of " Hohenlinden," or the pathetic melody of "Lord 
Ullin's Daughter" with the deep flowing emphasis 
of the " Battle of the Baltic." It is remarkable that 
this fine musical adaptation belongs to all his genuine 
pieces ; — we mean those naturally inspired ; while 
his music is never whipped into service as in Grlencoe 
and Theodric, without betraying the fact in her stiff" 
or wayward movement. This only proves how real 
a poet Campbell was. 

We demur, however, to the opinion frequently 
advanced, that his poetic fire died out long before 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 379 

his life. One of his noblest compositions, lofty and 
inspiring in sentiment, and grandly musical in rhythm, 
is "Hallowed Ground;" and one of his most striking 
pieces, "The Last Man," both of which were late 
productions. 

The personality so characteristic of genuine feel- 
ing is not only evident in the obvious inspiration, 
but in the verbal execution of his conception. Thus 
he constantly impersonates insensible objects. It is 
the bugles that sing truce, and he that lays himself 
beneath the willow; the glow of evening is like, not 
the cheek and brow of woman, but of her we love. 
Throughout the intensity of the feeling personifies 
the object described, and gives human attributes to 
inanimate things — exactly as in the artless Language 
of infancy and the oratory of an uncivilized people. 
Such is the instinct of nature ; it is what separates 
verse from prose, the diction of fancy and emotion 
from that of affairs and science. 

If any one is pre-eminently entitled to the name of 
Poet, in its most obvious sense, it is he who so 
emphatically represents in verse a natural sentiment 
that his expression of it is seized upon by the common 
voice and becomes its popular utterance. This direct, 
sympathetic, intelligent, and recognised phase of the 
art has been the most significant and effective, from 
the days of Job and Homer to those of Tasso and 
Campbell. The vivid rhetorical embodiment of a 
genuine feeling prevalent at the time, or characteristic 



380 THE POPULAR POET : 

of humanity, is the most obvious and the most 
natural province of the bard. The ballads of 
antiquity, the troubadour songs, and the primitive 
national lyric, envince how instinctive is this develop- 
ment of poetry. The philosophic combinations of the 
drama, the descriptive traits of the pastoral, and the 
formal range of the epic, are results of subsequent 
culture and more premeditated skill. This is also 
true of the refinements of sentiment, the mystical 
fancies and the vague expression which G-erman 
literature, and the influence of Wordsworth, Shelley, 
and Coleridge, have grafted upon modern English 
verse. 

If we were to adopt a vernacular poet from the 
brilliant constellation of the last and present century, 
as representing legitimately natural and popular 
feeling, with true lyric energy — such as finds in- 
evitable response and needs no advocacy or criticism 
to uphold or elucidate it — we should name Campbell. 
He wrote from the intensity of his own sympathies 
with freedom, truth, and love ; his expression, there- 
fore, is truly poetic in its spirit ; while in rhetorical 
finish and aptness he had the very best culture — that 
of Grerman literature. Thus simply furnished with 
inspiration and with a style, both derived from the 
most genuine resources — the one from nature and 
the other from the highest art — he gave melodious 
and vigorous utterance, not to a peculiar vein of 
imagination like Shelley, nor a mystical attachment 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 381 

to nature like Wordsworth, nor an egotistic per- 
sonality like Byron — but to a love of freedom and 
truth that political events had caused to glow with 
unwonted fervour in the bosoms of his noblest con- 
temporaries ; and to the native sentiment of domestic 
and social life — rendered more clear and sacred by 
their recent unhallowed desecration. It was not by 
ingenuity, egotism, or artifice that he thus chanted — 
but honestly, earnestly — from the impulse of youthful 
ardour and tenderness moulded by scholarship. 

It is now the fashion to admire verse more intricate, 
sentiment less defined, ideas of a metaphysical cast, 
and a rhythm less modulated by simple and grand 
cadences ; yet to a manly intellect, to a heart yet 
alive with fresh, brave, unperverted instincts — the 
intelligible, glowing, and noble tone of Campbell's 
wrse is yet fraught with cheerful augury. It has 
outlived, in current literature, and in individual re- 
membrance, the diffuse metrical tales of Scott and 
Southey; finds a more prolonged response, from its 
general adaptation, than the ever-recurring keynote 
of Byron ; and lingers on the lips and in the hearts of 
those avIio only muse over the more elaborate pages 
of minstrels, whose golden ore is either beaten out 
to intangible thinness, or largely mixed with the alloy 
of less precious metal. Indeed, nothing evinces a 
greater want of just appreciation in regard to the art 
or gift of poetry than the frequent complaints of such 
a poet as Campbell because of the limited quantity of 



382 THE POPULAR POET : 

his verse. It would be as rational to expect the 
height of animal spirits, the exquisite sensation of 
convalescence, the rapture of an exalted mood, the 
perfect content of gratified love, the tension of pro- 
found thought, or any other state, the very law of 
which is rarity, to become permanent. Campbell's 
best verse was born of emotion, — not from idle reverie 
or verbal experiment ; that emotion was heroic or 
tender, sympathetic or devotional; — the exception to 
the every-day, the common-place, and the mechanical ; 
accordingly, in its very nature, it was " like angels' 
visits," and no more to be summoned at will than 
the glow of affection or the spirit of prayer. 

That idleness had nothing to do with the want of 
productiveness of his muse, so absurdly insisted on, 
during his life, is evident from his letters. He was 
always busy — but unfortunately, for the most part, in 
tasks of literary drudgery undertaken for subsistence ; 
and deserves laudation instead of censure, for having 
respected the divine art he loved too much to degrade 
it into the service of hackneyed necessity. He was in 
fact a singularly industrious man; in his youth, an 
assiduous student while performing the duties of tutor, 
clerk, and compiler ; and in manhood and age always 
engaged upon some bookseller's job, now making an 
abridgment and now a translation ; at one time the 
editor of a magazine, and, at another, of a collection of 
the English poets ; now writing notes for a classic, 
and now paragraphs for a journal, lectures for the 



THOMAS CAMPBELL. 383 

Glasgow University, state papers for Lord Minto, 
the biography of Mrs Siddons or Petrarch, letters 
from Algiers, — whatever, in short, offered in the 
way of literary work that would give him bread. 
His correspondence lets us into the secret of his unos- 
tentatious and patient labour, his constant projects 
and the suggestions of more ; and the encroachments 
of ungenial employment upon his sensitive organiza- 
tion. 

One cannot but honour the kindly and philosophic 
manner in which he speaks of his disappointments in 
these familiar letters ; and rejoice to perceive that the 
feelings that inspired his memorable lines consoled 
him under all reverses, so that the moment he was in 
contact with the attractions of nature, friendship, and 
domestic peace, joy revived within him. The genuine- 
ness of his poetic impulse is thus indicated by 
the tenor of his life. Instead of lazily reposing on 
laurels early won, he was eminently true to the faith 
and independence that make beautiful the dreams of 
his youth ; — devoted to his kindred and friends 
with self-denying generosity, sympathising to the last 
in the cause of freedom, cognizant everywhere and 
always of the intrinsic worth of the primal sentiments 
whose beauty he so fondly sung ; and never forgetful 
of the duty and the privileges of amity, courage, and 
fame. Such is the evidence of the unstudied epistles 
now first collected; the spontaneous record of his 
occupations, opinions, and feelings throughout life. 



' 



384 THE POPULAR POET. 

They are consistent, and worthy both of the man and 
the poet. They exhibit a career divided between 
books and journeys — each nourishing his mind; an 
episode of domestic happiness that realizes all that 
good sense would advocate and romance glorify ; — 
intervals of great physical suffering, melancholy 
bereavements, and cheerless toil, ever and anon 
redeemed by delightful social intercourse, deserved 
honours, and felicitous moods. The death of his wife, 
the idiocy of his only son, the failure of his own 
health, his homeless life in London, and his death in 
forlorn exile, — these, and some of the natural con- 
sequences of such vicissitudes, throw a gloom over 
portions of the memoir; but through them and 
beyond, now that they are passed, the poet rises 
benignly in the integrity of his sentiments and the 
beauty of his art. 



LONDON: 

Printed by Schulze and Co., 13 Poland Street. 



19 65 













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